tt.    « 


LV  772  .C487  1836 
Church,  Pharcellus,  1801- 

1886. 
The  philosophy  of 

V  p  n  p _v  o  1  p  n  r*  p 


— tS^ 


THE 


PHILOSOPHY 


BENEVOLENCE. 


PHARCELLUS   CHURCH,  A.  M, 

BOCHESTE  B ,     N.    Y. 


bi  jf^pUfievoi  TO)  KOffiioi  b)S  /"J  /tara^^pw/xsvot. — PAUL. 


NEW-YORK: 

PUBLISHED  BY  LEAVITT,  LORD   &   CO. 

180  Broadway. 

boston:     CROCKER   &,  BREWSTER. 

1836. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  one  thousand 
eight  hundred  and  thirty-six,  by  Lbavitt,  Lord  &.  Co.,  in  the  Clerk's 
Ofl&ce  of  the  Southern  District  of  New-YorK. 


This  work  is  designed  for  men  of  conscience  and  common 
sense,  for  men  who  desire  to  subjugate  their  physical  existence 
to  the  higher  sanctions  of  reason  and  divine  revelation. 
Such  as  have  not  the  moral  courage  to  attempt  an  achievement 
of  this  exalted  character,  or  who  prefer  to  float  with  the  current 
of  passion,  customs,  and  habit,  rath  erthan  suffer  the  incon- 
venience of  resisting  it,  will  derive  little  advantage  from  its 
perusal.  To  those,  however,  who  profess  to  live  for  eternity, 
who  seek  for  the  triumph  of  mind  over  matter ;  or  even  to  those 
whose  eelf-love  would  lead  them  to  prefer  what  is  upon  the 
whole  best  to  every  injurious  gratification  of  present  feelings, 
we  trust  that  these  pages  will  prove  not  only  interesting,  but  of 
service  in  accomplishing  the  high  purposes  of  their  existence. 
If  a  pagan  historian  could  record  for  the  instruction  of  poster- 
ity, that  "the  true  use  of  riches  is  to  employ  them  so  that  they 
may  be  for  the  owner's  honor,"  and  a  heathen  emperor  could 
say  in  sorrow  of  the  day  in  which  no  notable  action  for  the 
good  of  others  was  performed,  "  I  have  lost  a  day,"  what 
should  be  the  feelings  of  Christians,  who  have  no  plans  for 
making  either  time  or  money  subserve  the  interests  of  that 
world  for  whom  their  Master  gave  his  life  1 

Much  as  we  hear  about  the  obligations  to  charity,  forcible 
as  the  pleas  are  which  are  continually  reiterated  in  the  public 


IV  PREFACE. 

ear  to  call  forth  the  means  of  doing  good,  and  liberal  as  the 
offerings  of  benevolence  are  still,  we  are  not  aware  that 
any  attempt  has  hitherto  been  made  to  condense  into  one 
view  the  reasons  of  this  duty,  or  to  analyze  its  elementary 
principles.  This  is  a  desideratum  in  the  cause  of  humanity 
that  remains  to  be  supplied. 

That  it  will  be  found  in  these  pages  we  do  not  pretend, 
but  only  that  they  furnish  an  attempt  in  this  department,  which 
may  perhaps  operate  as  a  spur  to  investigation,  and  thus  lead 
on  to  the  accomplishment  of  a  work,  without  which  all  our  be- 
nevolent machinery  must  be  disordered  in  its  movements 
and  inefficient  in  its  results.  Whatever  momentum  it  may 
acquire  from  accidental  causes,  still  its  play,  in  the  absence  of 
the  balance  wheel  of  principle,  will  be  fitful  and  un wieldly. 
The  ethics  of  money  must  be  explored,  the  bearings  of  the 
natural  and  revealed  economy  upon  the  duty  of  beneficence 
must  be  brought  to  light,  and  the  result  must  be  thrown  out 
upon  the  public  mind  and  conscience  as  the  clouds  scatter  their 
fertilizing  contents  over  the  soil,  before  the  golden  harvest 
can  be  expected  to  pour  its  annual  products  into  the  granaries 
of  benevolence  in  any  degree  proportioned  to  the  necessities 
of  human  nature. 

Though  the  work  is  designed  more  expressly  for  those  who 
are  pledged  by  their  professions  to  act  upon  the  principles  of 
truth,  yet  the  course  which  it  marks  out  in  reference  to  the  use 
and  pursuit  of  earthly  treasures  is  alike  the  duty  and  the 
privilege  of  all.  If  we  mistake  not,  it  furnishes  the  only  safe 
policy  for  directing  the  productive  powers  at  our  command, 
or  for  disposing  of  the  results  of  those  powers,  yea,  the  only 
policy  by  which  these  results  can  be  secured  against  becoming 
sooner  or  later  an  engine  of  misery  to  the  individual  or  family 
to  whom  they  belong.  The  right  use  of  earthly  possessions, 
whatever  it  may  be,  it  must  be  conceded  on  all  hands,  is 


PREFACE.  V 

the  use  by  which  they  will  be  made  instrumenta  of  the 
greatest  good  to  their  owners  and  to  general  society.  That 
is  the  true  political  economy,  that  is  the  high  road  to  national 
wealth . 

Whatever  may  be  the  fate  of  our  investigations,  as  the  sub- 
ject to  which  they  are  directed  bears  upon  a  point  which  ab- 
sorbs the  strongest  passions  of  our  nature  and  the  principal 
energies  of  our  lives,  we  are  sure  that  the  well  being  of  human 
society  requires  for  it  more  attention  than  it  usually  receives. 
What  is  the  object  of  our  golden  dreams  in  youth,  of  our  vig- 
orous exertions  in  manhood  ;  or  what  absorbs  the  anxieties  of 
decrepit  age  3  Wherefore  this  incessant  running  to  and  fro 
of  the  insect  man  upon  the  orb  which  he  calls  his  own,  this  en- 
compassing of  earth  and  ocean,  this  opening  of  subterranean 
caverns,  this  sturdy  encounter  with  polar  snows  or  tropical 
suns  1  Oh,  it  is  all  to  make  money.  This  is  the  charming 
goddess  whose  dulcet  voice  allures  thousands  upon  the  rocks 
of  infamy  and  ruin.  Can  any  inquiries,  therefore,  concerning 
the  use  or  intention  of  an  object  around  which  so  many  inter- 
ests cluster,  be  uncalled  for  or  unimportant  ] 

It  is  perhaps  to  be  regreted  that  the  writer  has  met  with 
so  little  which  has  been  said  on  this  subject,  that  seemed  to  be 
of  service  in  the  prosecution  of  his  plan.  This  is  owing  doubt- 
less to  the  peculiar  nature  of  that  plan,  or  to  its  uniting  topics 
which  have  hitherto  been  kept  too  remote  from  each  other. 
The  political  economist,  in  discussing  the  manner  of  produ- 
cing, distributing,  and  comsuming  wealth,  has  omitted  the 
ethics  or  religion  of  the  subject,  which  is  the  only  key  by 
which  it  can  be  unlocked ;  and  has  confined  himself  to  the 
mere  calculation  of  loss  and  gain.  Whereas  no  fact  is  more 
comnwn-place  than  that  dollars  may  be  gained  without  gain- 
ing happiness,  and  that  they  may  be  lost  without  a  loss  of 
happiness.  Yet,  from  their  capacity  to  cunfer  happiness,  dol- 
lars derive  all  their  value.     It  is  arguing  to  little  purpose, 


VI  PREFACE. 

therefore,  to  show  how  the  most  wealth  may  be  scraped  up, 
when  the  question  of  how  the  most  ^ood  may  be  done  is 
wholly  omitted.  Wealth  in  the  hands  of  a  nation  without 
virtue  is  like  edged  tools  in  the  hands  of  a  mad-man.  The 
great  point  to  be  determined  therefore  is,  how  the  products  of 
human  industry  may  be  turned  to  the  greatest  particular  and 
the  greatest  general  advantage.  And,  while  the  labors  of  the 
mere  political  economist  are  of  little  service  to  our  plan,  those 
which  have  resulted  from  the  recent  benevolent  movements 
are  too  detached  or  too  specific  for  our  purpose.  They  exist 
in  fragments  spread  out  through  innumerable  reports,  ad- 
dresses, or  periodicals  ;  and  when  they  are  collected,  they  are 
found  to  bear  upon  this  or  that  particular  enterprize  of  be- 
nevolence, instead  of  dealing  in  general  principles.  Yet,  we 
must  confess  ourselves  indebted  for  many  valuable  hints  to 
both  these  sources.  The  works  of  Say  on  political  economy 
have  been  of  special  service  in  the  article  upon  unproductive 
consumption. 

The  characters  introduced  are  designed  to  illustrate  the 
principles  of  the  work,  to  diversify  its  matter,  and  give  it  an 
adaptation  to  real  life.  The  air  of  fiction  thrown  over  them  is 
more  seeming  than  real.  The  writer  has  had  his  eye  out  upon 
the  world  for  a  number  of  years,  and  he  has  endeavored  to 
give  a  faithful  drawing  of  the  scenes  which  have  passed  before 
him. 

To  God,  to  the  church,  to  the  cause  of  suffering  human 
nature  we  commit  these  humble  pages,  with  the  hope  that 
the  good  may  exceed  what  the  means  would  seem  to  promise. 
If  they  are  of  the  least  service  in  teaching  how  to  manage  the 
stewardship  of  worldly  property,  or  if  they  turn  a  single  rill 
of  mercy  upon  the  parched  soil  of  human  destitution,  the  writer 
will  be  more  than  compensated  for  all  his  labor. 


psiitg^toit   ^, 
\thsologig&l  /^' 


Chapter  I. 


Religious  duty  adapted  to  the  complexity  of  human  nature — ten- 
dency to  extremes.    Story  of  Dominico 13 

Chapter  II. 

Showing  that  the  perversion  of  the  above  principles  is  common 
in  the  church  of  this  age — instances  ia  the  case  of  Mr.  La- 
tham— his  conversion — his  predominant  passion — call  upon 
him  for  charity — conversation— remarks  of  the  lawyer.  Past 
corruptions— their  present  influence— absurdity.  Conviction 
of  Mr.  L.— his  confession — others  like  him 17 

Chapter  III. 

Present  earthliness  of  the  church — its  influence  in  disposal  of 

estates,  as  instanced  in  Deacon  Brooks  of •.     Atheism  of 

Christians— alarming  case— defective  conversions—partial 
consecration — objection  considered — absence  of  principle- 
Ancestry  of  Deacon  B.— his  covetous  father— his  habits  and 
taste — want  of  spirituality.  Country  seat— danger  of  lux- 
ury— reception — resistance — conversation — conclusion—invis- 
ible influences 31 

Chapter  IV. 

Principles  that  should  guide  us  in  the  use  of  our  pecuniary  re- 
sources. History  of  W .  Narrative  of  G n.  Na- 
ture and  Bible  coincident— the  rich  made  poor — how  to  get 
rich— devoting  wealth  to  God— how  it  is  to  be  done— system- 
atic charity— poor  in  mind  and  morals — charity  in  design. 

Mr.  W ,— his  design  fails— pious  economy.    Narrative  of 

G n— excellent  plan • •.  •  • 51 

Chapter  V. 

Uses  of  wealth — its  omnipotent  influence— whence  cornes  it  ? — 
love  of  money  as  an  absolute  principle — horric.  passion— -ad- 
vantages of  wealth  must  measure  our  passion  fpr  it — reaction^ 


8  CONTENTS. 

Poetry  of  Dr.  Leyden— no  need  of  such  feelings.  Uses  of 
wealth  are — 1,  means  of  support — 2,  of  intellectual  and  moral 
improvement — 3,  provision  for  future  use  and  need — 4,  embel- 
lishment and  luxury— 5,  favorable  regards  of  society 67 

Chapter  VI. 

Vindication  of  systematic  beneficence  by  arguments  drawn  from 
the  principles  of  our  nature,  and  the  constitution  of  things- 
personal  benefits— provision  for  one's  family— feelings  of  hu- 
manity—love of  offspring— its  design  not  mistaken.  Dic- 
tates of  benevolence— utility  of  the  principle — idea  of  sacri- 
fice— objects  of  desire  taxed.  Wealth  supremely  adored — 
nature  all  reciprocity — matter  improved  by  religion.  Eden 
restored • 85 

Chapter  VII. 

Superabundant  results  of  well-directed  industry  corroborate  the 
duty  of  systematic  beneficence — cumulation  of  evidence— pro- 
ductiveness of  industry— vast  profusion  of  expense.  Wealth 
of  earth  and  ocean— causes  of  poverty — bad  governments — 
drones.  Unequal  distribution  of  labor— primary  sources  of 
wealthy— object  of  our  superabundance— designed  as  a  pro- 
vision of  mercy — what  is  best  for  children.  Fall  of  the  four 
great  monarchies.  Children  trained  to  action— ruined  by 
patrimonies 103 

Chapter  VIII. 

Examination  of  the  question,  whether  unproductive  consumption 
is  necessary  to  keep  the  market  good — golden  mediuni— 
evils  of  sumptuousness — all  wealth  made  useful.  Acquisi- 
tions in  science — Newton.  Alleviation  of  wo — Howard. 
Market  ruined  by  waste — complexity  of  the  subject — fool- 
ish reasoning — wheat-growers — refined  system  of  robbery — 
poverty  made  poorer — appearances  deceitful — good  pohcy  is 
the  law  of  the  church.  God's  care  of  mind  and  morals — 
millennium  kept  back 119 

Chapter  IX. 

Alarming  consequences  of  having  a  passion  for  wealth  become 
predominant  Necessity  of  that  restraint  upon  this  passion, 
which  arises  from  the  habitual  beslowment  of  charitable  gra- 
tuities.   Life  and  death  of  Mr.  James  Harding 135 

Chapter  X, 

General  view  of  the  argument  from  the  Bible— how  to  view  the 
Bible  on  this  subject— piety  same  in  all  ages—elements  of 


CONTENTS.  9 

duty  identical — occult  bearings    of  revealed    truth— Bible, 
book  of  ultimate  facta— its  teachings  on  this  subject  not  felt  153 

Chapter  XI. 

Inquiry  into  the  proportion  of  our  income  which  we  are  bound  to 
devote  to  God.  Law  of  tithes — is  it  binding  1— benevolent 
principle  promises  more— advanced  state  of  religion — a  pro- 

fressive  principle — necessity  of  vent  to  our  surplus  stores — 
ow  to  prevent  inflammation— moral  and  intellectual  destitu- 
tion—how to  be  secure  against  evil  of  riches— proportion  of 
labor  due  to  wealth.  Mind  subjected  to  matter— matter  the 
BcafFolding  to  ruin — ultimate  object  of  pious  offerings.  The 
reign  of  Christ  on  earth — this  object  calls  as  loudly  as  ever — 
how  to  interpret  the  commands  of  Christ — church  organized 
for  war — vast  territories  yet  to  be  subdued — direct  efforts  of 
ail  the  church  needed.  Project  of  a  confluence  of  bloods. 
Lay-agencies  in  doing  good — primitive  church  in  our  circum- 
stances—offering proportioned  to  our  ability— care  in  judging 
of  a  man's  ability— debts  contracted  as  an  excuse  for  not 
giving— sin  of  inequality— must  be  corrected •• 161 

Chapter  XII. 

Doctrine  of  entire  consecration — found  in  the  first  precept  of  the 
law — claim  of  the  law  original  and  universal.  God's  right 
covers  all  the  phases  of  our  being— God  the  same  in  the  Bible 
as  in  providence— ties  by  which  the  church  is  bound  to  God — 
anomaly  filling  angels  with  amazement.  Example  of  Mace- 
donian converts — dimax  of  the  argument  for  charity,  found 
in  the  sacrifice  of  Christ — charity  arising  from  the  first  im- 
pulses of  faith— effects  of  consecration  in  the  first  church....  189 

Chapter  XIII. 

Vanity  and  danger  of  a  passion  for  wealth— passion  for  wealth 
denounced — direct  effects  of  heaping  up — last  scene  of  the 
dismal  drama— wealth  neutralizecl — Solomon's  experience  of 
the  vanity  of  riches— his  declming  years  betrayed  into  sin 
—love  of  riches  renders  all  a  wreck— the  rich  fool— his  man- 
ner of  acquiring  unexceptionable 203 

Chapter  XIV. 

The  progress  of  true  religion,  as  traced  in  the  Scriptures,  is  con- 
nected with  a  like  progression  in  the  sacrifice  of  money  upon 
its  objects— pious  ambition  to  be  like  God— origin  of  pecu- 
niary offerings— extraordinary  calls— Noah— rate  of  sacrifice 
—patriarchal  age.  The  Mosaic  law— reign  of  David  and  Solo- 
mon—the temple— subsequent  reigns— return  from  captivity. 
Sacrifices  of  Christ.  Zaccheus.  Day  of  Pentecost.  Agen- 
cies—primitive churches -... 213 


10  CONTENTS. 


Chapter  XV. 


A  spirit  greedy  of  the  world  is  represented,  not  only  as  closing 
the  gates  of  life,  but  as  an  object  of  peculiar  maledictions. 
World  used,  but  not  used  out.  Flechier.  Limited  use  of  a 
right.  Ananias  and  Sapphira.  Purposes  of  Judas — avarice 
his  predominant  passion.  Cause  of  his  sin  an  universal  element 
of  character.  Love  of  wealth  keeps  men  from  Christ.  Ava- 
ricious lake.  Atmosphere  of  Heaven — Ephraim's  sin— Job's 
imprecation— language  of  the  psalms.  Motives  for  exclusive 
use  of  money — Haunted  dwellings  of  wealth.  Evidence  of 
nature  and  revelation 235 


Chapteh  XVI. 

Explicit  enactments.  Harmony  of  religion  with  the  real  world- 
sympathy  necessary — verbal  sanction  to  the  laws  of  nature — 
indiscriminate  beneficence.  Giving  alms— nothing  unclean — 
contributions  diminished  with  increasing  ability— no  religion 
salutary  that  is  not  merciful— destitution  demanding  relief-  ••  251 


Chapter  XVIL 

Scripture  motives  to  beneficence — promises  of  temporal  reM^ard. 

History  of  B , — motives  to  beneficence — promises  of 

temporal  reward 263 


Chapter  XVHL 
Further  motives  to  beneficence 283 

Chapter  XIX. 

General  remarks  upon  plans  of  benevolent  enterprise — objects  of 

beneficence— plans  of  benevolent  effor* — division  of  topics  295 

Section  I. 
Origination  of  benevolent  funds 393 

Section  II. 
Manner  of  collecting  benevolent  funds 311 

Section  HI. 

The  principle  of  concentration  as  applied  to  charitable  contribu- 
tions     319 


CONTENTS.  11 

Section  IV. 

Executive  management  of  benevolent  funds— college  of  benevo- 
lence—Methodism, its  organization — rivalry  of  societies — 
drafts  upon  city  pastors— board  of  supervision— danger  of 
accumulations— experience  against  accumulations— diver- 
sion of  funds  from  their  design— funds  for  literary  purposes 
—each  generation  its  own  purveyor 326 

Conclusion. 

Union  of  Protestant  sects — benevolence  never  made  the  basis 
of  a  sect — iaea  of  a  sect  that  should  be  so  formed.  Import- 
ance of  benevolence  to  our  nation — causes  of  prosperity, 
those  of  peril  as  well.  Lessons  of  the  past— power  of  our 
resources  well  employed— effort  at  guidmg  them,  a  duty  347 


ERRATA. 

Table  of  Contents,  Chapter  II.,  second  line,  "instanced"  should 
1)6  used  instead  of  "  instances." 

"  Matter  the  scafFolding  to  ?ni??cZ,"  not  "scaffolding  to  ruin"  as 
in  the  heading  page  173,  and  again  in  Table  of  Contents,  page  9. 

^^  and  burning  incense,"  not  "  a  burning,  dbc."  as  on  page  196. 

First  word  of  the  seventh  line  on  p.  2l7,  should  be  "when,"  in- 
stead of  "where." 

"  To  eat  the  fat  of  the  land,"  not  "  Go  eat,  &c."  page  223. 

"censers,"  instead  of  "  censors,"  on  page  226.  "  Stones,"  which 
s  the  last  word  on  the  same  page,  should  be  stricken  out  altogether. 

In  the  eighth  line  from  the  bottom,  page  239,  "  saring"  should  be 
used,  not  "  sai/ing." 

"  Cause  of /lis  ^in,"  not  "cause  of  sin,"  as  in  heading  on  p.  242. 

Tenth  Ime  from  top,  p.  252,  "  how  is  it  possible,"  not  "  how  it  is 
oossible." 

Tenth  line  from  bottom,  p.  290,  "awaiting  our  arrival,"  noi 
'^should  await,  &c." 

P.  345,  "organizations,"  not  "organization." 


PHILOSOPHY  OF  BENEVOLENCE. 


CHAPTER   L 

Religious  duty  adapted  to  the  complexity  of  human  nature.— Story  of 
Dominico. 

In  the  laws  which  God  has  given  to  regulate  our  con- 
duct in  this  life,  we  are  regarded  as  sustaining  the  double 
relation  of  matter  and  spirit.  The  duties  they  enjoin  are 
not  exclusively,  either  such  as  our  physical  condition  ren- 
ders necessary ,or  such  as  our  moral  and  intellectual  charac- 
ter requires.  But  they  take  a  course  between  these  ex- 
tremes ;  and  the  same  inspiration  which  teaches  us  that  the 
love  of  God  is  an  indispensable  ingredient  of  true  piety, 
teaches  also  with  equal  clearness,  that  pure  religion  con- 
sists in  visiting  the  fatherless  and  widow  in  their  afflictions. 

A  disregard  of  this  complexity  in  our  character  and  du- 
ties, whether  it  be  theoretical  or  practical,  is  a  source  of  in- 
numerable mistakes  and  incalculable  evils  to  men.  What 
absurdities  have  arisen  on  the  one  hand,  from  conceiving 
that  the  work  of  religion  is  confined  to  the  department  of 
2 


14  TENDENCY  TO  EXTREMES. 

spirit,  and  on  the  other,  from  making  its  duties  wholly  ex- 
ternal. As  the  bodp^ithout  the  spirit  is  a  nauseous  car- 
cass, so  the  spirit  without  the  body,  is  a  frightful  spectre ; 
it  is  only  by  their  conjunction  that  man  is  fitted  to  a  life 
among  these  material  elements.  So,  it  is  only  by  a  con- 
junction of  those  duties  which  respect  the  soul  with  those 
which  respect  the  body,  that  a  useful  and  well-balanced 
character  is  formed.  The  tendency  of  human  nature  has 
always  been  to  these  extremes.  Material,  or  temporal 
good,  however,  as  it  attracts  with  much  the  greater  force, 
draws  to  itself  by  far  the  greater  part ;  and  they  live  for 
naught  but  to  enjoy  pleasure,  to  amass  wealth,  to  gratify 
the  lust  of  power,  or  in  some  other  way,  or  in  all  these 
ways  combined,  to  pay  unceasing  homage  to  the  gods  of 
this  world. 

Others,  in  their  pious  zeal  to  avoid  this  extreme,  and 
to  inhale  a  purely  spiritual  element,  have  contemned  phy- 
sical enjoyments,  have  affected  superiority  to  every  earthly 
duty  and  interest,  have  devoted  themselves  to  a  life  of  ab- 
straction, and  thus,  have  formed  ghastly  and  fearful  cha- 
racters, that  glare  like  meteors  in  the  absence  of  a  more 
genial  light.  Infinite  mischief  has  been  done  to  the  cause  of 
religion,  by  representing  it  as  invested  in  unearthly  habil- 
iments, and  by  attempting  to  build  the  heavenly  structure 
upon  the  ruins  of  humanity.  A  religion  without  the  power 
of  placing  one  foot  on  a  spiritual,  and  the  other,  on  a  ma- 
terial basis,  like  the  angel  who  stood  on  the  sea  and  the  dry 
land,  is  not  adapted  to  improve  the  condition  of  a  being 
uniting  elements  so  opposite  as  those  which  enter  into  the 
composition  of  man.     And  it  may  be  difficult  to  say 


STORt  OF  DOMINICO.  15 

whence  the  more  plagues  have  gone  abroad  to  poison  the 
moral  atmosphere  of  the  world,  from  the  seclusion  of  the 
■convent,  or  from  the  schools  of  atheism. 

But  the  foundation  of  God  standeth  sure,  and  the  actions 
and  exercises  in  which  he  makes  piety  consist,  are  now, 
as  they  always  have  been,  duly  adjusted  to  our  character 
and  circumstances.  In  vain  do  we  aspire  at  the  sublime 
privilege  of  praising  our  Maker,  if  he  can  admit  of  no 
praise  but  such  as  angels  offer.  They  are  great  in  power 
and  might,  and  soar  to  an  eminence  above  the  reach 
of  our  giddy  reason.  Their  duties  are  suited  to  the 
elevation  of  their  circumstances,  but  not  to  the  lowliness  of 
ours.  The  laws  by  which  we  are  to  be  governed,  are 
adapted  to  our  condition,  enjoining  such  duties  as  are  suit- 
ed to  the  complexity  of  our  characters,  such  as  we  are 
capable  of  performing,  and  as  will,  when  performed,  afford 
us  a  greater  amount  of  enjoyment,  both  from  matter  and 
spirit,  than  can  be  secured  by  any  other  course. 

A  recluse,  it  is  said,  living  in  the  early  ages  of  Chris- 
tianity, betook  himself  to  a  cave  in  Upper  Egypt,  which 
in  the  time  of  the  Pharaohs,  had  been  a  depository  of 
mummies,  and  there  lived  to  pray,  to  converse  with  the 
spirits  of  the  dead,  and  to  mortify  himself,  eating  only 
dates,  and  drinking  the  water  of  the  Nile.  At  length,  be- 
coming weary  of  life,  he  prayed  one  day  more  fervently 
than  ever,  and  then  sinking  exhausted  into  a  profound 
sleep,  there  appeared  to  him  a  vision  of  an  angel  in  a 
dream,  commanding  him  to  rise  and  cut  down  a  neighboring 
palm  tree,  and  make  a  rope  of  its  fibres,  after  which  the 
angel  promised  to  appear  to  him  again.     Upon  awaking 


16  STORY  OF  DOMINICO. 

the  hermit  instantly  resolved  to  obey  the  vision,  and  tray- 
elling  from  place  to  place  for  many  days  before  he  could 
procure  an  ax,  he  found  himself,  while  thus  employed, 
happier  than  he  had  been  for  many  years.  His  prayers, 
though  shorter  and  fewer  than  those  he  had  been  accus- 
tomed to  offer,  out-measured  them  in  fervor  and  effect. 
Having  returned  with  the  ax,  he  cut  down  the  tree,  and 
with  much  labor  and  assiduity  for  a  long  time,  prepared 
the  fibres  to  make  the  rope,  and  by  daily  occupation,  after 
some  weeks  he  had  completed  the  command.  According 
to  promise,  the  celestial  visiter  that  night  appeared  again > 
and  said,  "  Dominico,  you  are  now  no  longer  weary  of 
life,  but  happy.  Know  then  that  man  was  made  for  labor, 
as  well  as  for  prayer,  the  one  being  not  less  essential  to  his 
welfare  than  the  other.  Arise  in  the  morning,  take  the 
cord,  with  it  gird  up  thy  loins,  go  forth  into  the  world,  and 
let  it  be  a  memorial  to  thee,  that  God  expects  from  man, 
if  he  would  be  happy,  a  course  duly  adjusted  both  to  his 
animal  and  to  his  spiritual  nature." 


CHAPTER    II. 

Showing  that  the  perversion  of  the  above  principles  is  common  in  the 
church  of  this  age,  as  instanced  in  the  case  of  Mr.  Latham. 

Happy  would  it  be  if  the  above  truths  were  as  com- 
mon-place  in  practice  as  they  are  in  principle  ;  and  that 
the  absurdity  of  every  violation  of  them  were  as  quickly 
perceived  and  reprobated  as  some  of  the  more  flagrant- 
To  convince  us  that  those 

"in  monkish  cells  and  nunneries  found," 

who  contemn  their  bodies,  withdraw  from  all  the  duties 
and  sympathies  of  social  life,  and  affect  already  to  have 
abandoned  the  material  for  the  spiritual  world,  have  total- 
ly mistaken  the  nature  of  religious  obligation,  requires 
neither  argument  nor  description.  We  instantly  perceive 
and  feel  it,  and  are  in  little  danger  of  being  drawn  into 
practices  so  absurd  and  unnatural.  These  are  nocturnal 
animals,  which,  though  lively  and  active,  while  the  gloom 
of  midnight  hung  over  the  human  mind,  skulked  into  their 
lairs  upon  the  first  dawn  of  reason  and  intelligence.  And 
yet,  are  we  perfectly  free  from  that  undue  leaning  to  spirit 
which  we  are  so  forward  to  condemn  in  the  recluse  ?  Can 
we  detect  no  failure  to  secure  that  equipoise  of  character 
between  matter  and  spirit,  which,  it  is  the  chief  aim  and 
glory  of  religion  to  promote  ?  A  pound  will  turn  the  scale 
as  well  as  a  ton ;  so  we  may  as  really  lose  the  happy 
2* 


18  MR.  LATHAM. 

balance  of  truth  and  propriety  by  slighter  variations  from 
the  foregoing  principles,  as  by  the  most  flagranti 

How  many  at  the  commencement  of  their  Christian 
career,  are  so  intent  upon  the  joys  of  a  young  hope,  and  the 
fervors  of  a  first  love,  as  to  forget  that  there  are  widows  to 
be  relieved,  poor  to  be  fed,  and  sick  to  be  visited.  Lost  in 
a  forest  of  emotions,  they  are  as  averse  to  coming  out  among 
the  abodes  of  men,  and  enlisting  in  positive  efforts  for  the 
alleviation  of  their  miseries,  as  the  monk  in  his  cell.  Yea, 
nothing  would  perhaps  sooner  damp  their  glowing  sensa- 
tions, than  to  be  seriously  pressed  to  the  expenditure  of 
money  upon  even  the  worthiest  object  that  benevolence 
could  devise.  Unlike  Zaccheus,  they  do  not  take  the 
trouble  to  inquire  whether  they  have  no  reparations  to 
make  for  ill-gotten  gains.  By  their  repentance,  faith,  and 
spiritual  graces,  they  hope  to  make  amends  for  every 
previous  act  of  injustice ;  and  imagine  that  they  have  now 
the  privilege  of  enjoying,  not  only  their  newly  acquired 
stores  of  religious  good,  but  their  old  hoards  of  worldly 
treasure.  Alas,  that  so  many  who  have  membership  in 
the  church,  should  be  absolutely  incapable  of  seeing  any 
thing  in  money,  but  the  means  of  supporting  their  fami- 
lies, of  encircling  themselves  with  earthly  comforts,  and 
advancing  their  children  in  the  world  !  They  are  willing 
to  give  their  religion  free  access  to  all  that  pertains  to 
them,  if  it  will  only  keep  its  hands  from  their  coffers. 

Mr.  John  Latham  was  the  subject  of  a  late  revival  in 

the  town  of ,  his  convictions  of  sui  were  deep  and 

genuine,  though  somewhat  protracted.     He  oflen  express;- 
ed  to  his  pastor  his  willingness  to  give  up  every  thing  fco: 


HIS  CONVERSION.  19 

Christ's  sake — could  not  see  why  God  did  not  have  mercy 
on  him  as  well  as  others — and  sighing,  would  exclaim,  O, 
if  money  could  purchase  a  pardon  of  my  sins,  and  a  cor- 
dial for  my  feverish  soul,  how  soon  would  I  give  up  all  I 
possess.  At  length,  as  he  stood  on  a  May  morning,  view- 
ing from  an  eminence  his  wide-spread  domains,  and  wit- 
nessing his  flocks  and  herds  bounding  with  the  renovated 
life  of  spring,  his  thoughts  turned  upon  his  own  sad  condi- 
tion, and  he  was  overwhelmed  by  the  contrast.  '  Alas ! 
he  said,  *  were  I  as  innocent  as  yonder  playful  lambs,  I 
should  be  as  gay  and  as  buoyant  as  they.  But  I  have 
sinned.  They  have  kept  the  place  assigned  them,  but  I 
have  not  kept  mine. 

"  Here  in  my  heart  the  burden  lies, 
And  past  oiFences  pain  my  eyes." 

Then,  lifting  his  hands  to  heaven,  he  cried  with  the  agony 
of  a  drowning  man,  *  Lord  save,  or  I  perish.'  No  sooner 
had  these  words  escaped  his  lips,  than  the  ample  satisfac- 
tion for  sin  which  Christ  had  made  by  his  death  came  up 
distinctly  to  his  view,  he  felt  that  it  was  for  Mm,-^si  ray 
of  hope  darted  across  the  gloom  of  his  soul,  his  heart  was 
dissolved  to  tenderness,  and  his  eyes  were  flooded  with 
tears.  *  Is  it  possible !  is  it  possible !  Why  had  I  not  seen 
it  before  ?'  he  said,  and  unconsciously  began  to  sing  the 
sweet  words  of  the  poet. 

"  My  God  is  reconciled,  1     ^   . 

His  pardoning  voice  I  hear, 
He  owns  me  for  his  child, 
I  can  no  longer  fear." 

Pained  no  more  by  the  contrast  of  his  feelings  with 
^e  aspect  of  nature,  he  felt  that  his  heart  was  in  tune  to 


20  PREDOMINANT  PASSION. 

join  with  his  flocks,  and  blooming  fields,  and  waving  forests^ 
with  all  their  feathered  warblers,  in  praising  the  '  Au- 
thor and  Source  of  all  this  good  to  man.'  His  bosom 
could  not  contani  his  joy  ;  but  first  to  his  family,  then  to 
his  pastor  and  neighbors  he  flew  to  speak  of  the  glories  of 
his  newly  found  Saviour.  Mr.  Latham  embraced  the  ear- 
liest opportunity  to  profess  his  fahh  in  Christ,  and  appeared 
now  not  less  fervent  in  spirit,  than  he  had  been  through 
life  diligent  in  business.  He  established  and  maintained 
worship  in  his  family,  morning  and  evening,  he  inculcated 
religion  upon  his  children,  he  mingled  his  prayers  and  ex- 
hortations with  those  of  his  brethren  in  the  social  circle, 
he  was  ready  at  all  times  to  converse  upon  the  spiritual 
things  of  religion,  and  in  every  respect  lut  owe,  gave  evi- 
dence of  being  a  new  creature.  This  one  exception  was^^ 
that  he  made  no  perceptible  change  in  the  use  of  that 
estate  which  he  lately  thought  himself  so  willing  to  give  up 
for  a  hope  in  Christ.  The  idea  of  serving  the  Lord  with 
his  substance,  and  with  the  first  fruits  of  all  his  increase, 
never  entered  his  mind. 

Having  begun  the  world  with  nothing,  he  early  inured 
himself  to  that  hardy  industry,  and  frugal  self-denial,  which 
are  the  usual  attendants  of  a  settled  purpose  of  becoming 
rich.  This  had  been  through  life  his  predominant  pas- 
sion, had  done  more  to  determine  his  character  and  destiny 
than  any  thing  besides,  and  had  been  the  prolific  source 
of  many  of  those  sins  which  so  long  fed  the  fires  of  re- 
morse within  him.  In  his  zeal,  therefore,  to  perform  some 
signal  act  of  love  to  a  Saviour  who  had  done  so  much  for 
him,  what  was  more  natural  than  that  he  should  have 


CALL  FOR  CHARITY.  91 

thought  of  his  property  first,  as  the  only  fruit  of  that  man- 
ner  of  Hfe  of  which  he  was  now  ashamed,  that  he  could  turn 
to  any  valuable  account.  One  would  have  expected  that 
a  revolution  in  his  moral  habits  so  remarkable,  would  be 
followed  by  a  liberal  sacrifice  of  wealth  upon  the  altar  of 
beneficence,  or  at  least  that  the  purpose  of  so  bestowing 
it,  would  have  taken  the  precedence  of  family  prayer,  pub- 
lic exhortation,  and  every  other  duty.  The  converted 
Ephesians,  under  the  first  impulses  of  a  heaven-born  faith, 
went  even  so  far  as  to  destroy  outright  a  property  in 
books  to  the  amount  of  fifty  thousand  pieces  of  silver. 
But,  owing  to  some  cause  which  is  oftener  seen  in  its 
effects  than  in  its  own  nature,  Mr.  Latham  as  effectually 
excluded  his  religion  from  all  participation  in  the  disposal 
of  his  wealth,  as  ever  a  recluse  did  his,  from  all  mingling 
in  the  scenes  of  active  life. 

It  so  happened  a  few  days  after  his  conversion,  that 
the  claims  of  several  benevolent  objects  were  urged  upon 
the  church  of  which  he  was  a  member.  One  was,  to 
prepare  the  outfitof  a  missionary  to  a  foreign  land  ;  another 

to  educate  two  mute  children  at Asylum ;  and  the 

third,  to  furnish  extra  supplies  to  their  worthy  pastor, 
whose  salary  was  small,  and  his  family,  besides  being 
large,  had  recently  been  visited  by  a  distressing  and  ex- 
pensive sickness.  The  solicitors  for  these  objects,  a 
pious  lawyer,  and  two  other  members  of  the  church,  know- 
ing Mr.  Latham  to  be  rich,  and  withal  so  very  zealous  of 
late,  went  to  him  with  great  confidence  of  obtaining  for  each 
a  liberal  donation.  They  began  their  conversation  by 
some  remarks  on  the  late   revival,  on  the  happiness  of 


22  CONVERSATION. 

communion  with  God,  on  the  signal  display  of  divine 
grace  in  some  recent  cases  of  conversion,  and  hinted  at  the 
reasonableness  of  entire  consecration  to  God  in  beings  so 
distinguished  by  mercy  as  they  had  been.  Into  this  con- 
versation Mr.  L.  entered  with  a  glowing  heart,  and  among 
other  things  he  expatiated  on  the  freeness  of  salvation,  it 
being  "  without  money  and  without  price;"  on  the  goodness 
of  God  in  taking  the  burden  from  poor  weak  creatures ; 
his  own  experience  having  taught  him,  he  said,  how  utter- 
ly unavailing  were  his  efforts  till  he  viewed  by  faith  the 
cross  of  Christ,  and  concluded  by  alluding  to  the  worth* 
lessness  of  all  offerings  where  love  is  absent. 

Here  the  lawyer  interrupted,  by  stating  the  object  of 
their  visit.  To  Mr.  Latham's  feelings  it  was  like  water 
thrown  upon  fire — he  did  not  expect  it — he  demurred— said 
as  to  the  cause  of  missions,  he  had  no  objection  to  the 
thing  in  itself — felt  afraid  money  was  not  judiciously  ap- 
propriated— missionaries  so  far  off,  no  knowing  how  they 
spend  their  time  or  whether  they  do  any  good — should 
think  they  had  been  among  the  heathen  long  enough  to  be 
supported  by  their  converts — those  among  whom  they 
labor  better  able  to  support  them  perhaps  than  we — felt 
afraid  this  business  would  be  a  damper  upon  the  revival — • 
and  a  number  of  such  half  formed  sentences  dropped  from 
his  lips.  *  Very  well/  said  one  of  the  solicitors, '  if  you  have 
so  much  doubt  about  missions  you  may  give  your  money 
to  help  our  neighbor  Saunders  educate  his  mute  children 
at  the  Asylum.'  Mr.  Latham  hesitated — <  Saunders, 
Saunders,'  said  he,  <  I  have  known  that  fellow  from  his 
youth,  and  am  certain  that  if  he  had  been  industrious  as 


CONVRESATION.  23 

I  have  been,  he  might  educate  his  own  children  as  well 
as  I  can  mine.  Did  you  not  know,'  continued  he,  *  that  he 
was  once  intemperate?'  *  Yes,'  replied  another  solici- 
tor, *but  since  he  joined  the  temperance  society  has 
not  drank  at  all,  and  is  as  industrious  as  any  of  his  neigh- 
bors.'  'That  makes  no  difference,'  answered  Mr.  La- 
tham, *  to  pay  my  money  to  prevent  the  consequences  of 
vice  is  to  participate  in  it.  I  pity  the  poor  fellow ;  but 
to  his  own  Master  he  stands  or  falls,  and  God  forbid  that 
I  should  help  him  stand,  when  perhaps  he  ought  to  fall.' 
At  this  the  solicitors  were  abashed,  but  determined  still 
to  persevere,  the  lawyer  observed,  *  Well,  Mr.  Latham, 
if  you  have  so  many  objections  to  these  objects,  we 
will  present  a  third,  in  which  you  cannot  fail  to  be  inter- 
ested. Our  esteemed  pastor,  you  know,  has  had  sickness 
in  his  family,  and  it  has  increased  his  expenses  beyond  his 
means  of  paying.  A  number  of  us  have  undertaken  to 
raise  enough  to  supply  the  deficiency,  and  we  are  sure 
you  never  will  repent  of  doing  good  to  him.'  On 
this  point  Mr.  L.  felt  his  sympathies  enkindled.  He  recol- 
lected the  many  visits  his  pastor  had  lately  made  him,  the 
fervor  of  his  prayers  for  him,  and  the  affection  of  his  ad- 
vice when  he  was  laboring  under  a  sense  of  sin  ;  that  he 
had  administered  to  him  the  holy  ordinances  of  the  gospel ; 
that  his  sermons  had  afforded  him  many  a  rich  spiritual 
repast — all  these  reminiscences  rushing  of  a  sudden  upon 
the  mind  of  Mr.  Latham,  aroused  his  dormant  feelings 
and  he  exclaimed,  *  Certainly,  certainly,  I  am  disposed 
to  help  our  pastor,'  and  taking  from  his  pocket  a  five 
dollar  bank  note,  he  handed  it  to  them,  saying,  *  there,  let 


24  REMARKS  OF  THE  LAWYER. 

that  be  my  part  of  this  extra  allowance.'  He  then  sat 
in  a  musing  posture  for  a  moment,  with  a  cloud  lowering 
in  his  countenance,  when  he  exclaimed  with  great  im- 
patience, '^What  a  plague  is  money  !  If  that  had  never 
been  heard  of,  we  should  have  had  a  feast  of  fat  things 
from  this  visit.  It  darkens  my  mind — it  cools  my  fervor — 
hope  we  shall  leave  these  beggarly  elements  and  seek 
the  things  whereby  one  may  edify  another.  Let  spiritual 
religion  be  the  topic  of  conversation,  and  I  am  never 
weary.  My  soul  is  impatient  to  begin  the  life  of  heaven 
on  earthly  ground.     Prayer  and  praise  are  my  element.' 

The  objections  of  Mr.  Latham  to  giving  his  money,  did 
not  arise  so  much  from  covetousness,  as  from  a  habit  of 
feeling  that  pecuniary  considerations  and  religion  are  ad- 
verse to  each  other. 

The  lawyer  perceived  what  the  difficulty  was,  and 
could  not  feel  satisfied  to  leave  him  without  making  an 
effort  to  bring  him  into  better  views.  He  therefore  re- 
plied to  the  following  effect : 

'  I  think  with  you,  Mr.  L.  that  prayer  and  praise 
are  the  element  of  a  Christian  spirit,  which  may  be  al- 
ways inhaled  without  endangering  life  or  health.  But 
still  the  soul  requires  for  its  aliment  some  more  substantial 
materials.  We  cannot  live  upon  air.  We  ought  not  to 
forget  that  we  are  the  tenants  of  a  material  world,  and 
we  cannot  acquit  ourselves  of  the  duties  which  we  owe  to 
God  and  men,  without  acting  in  conformity  with  our  situ- 
ation  as  such.  What  will  be  our  particular  mode  of  life 
in  heaven  who  can  foresee  ?  Doubtless,  however,  even 
there  our  energies  will  be  taxed  to  their  full  extent^  if  not 


PAST  CORRUPTIONS.  25 

in  the  production  of  changes  upon  matter  as  here,  yet  in 
some  way  conformed  to  the  unearthliness  of  our  nature 
and  circumstances.  For,  as  God  is  wont  to  assign  to 
creatures  a  work  equal  to  the  full  extent  of  their  capaci- 
ties, it  is  preposterous  to  expect  that  heaven  will  be 
merely  a  place  of  quiescent  enjoyment,  or  that  the  exalted 
powers  of  human  nature,  strengthened,  expanded,  and , 
ennobled  by  its  earthly  discipline  should,  instead  of  going 
forward  in  the  career  of  achievement,  sink  into  luxurious 
and  inglorious  inaction.  I  hope  therefore  you  will  seri- 
ously consider  whether  in  giving  yourself  up  to  spiritual 
emotions,  to  the  neglect  of  your  relations  as  an  inhabitant 
of  this  world,  you  do  not  as  really  fail  of  answering  the 
ends  of  the  religion  you  profess,  as  if  you  lived  a  stranger 
to  its  effects  upon  the  soul.' 

These  remarks  had  the  effect  to  produce  in  Mr.  L.  a 
suspicion  that  he  might  be  wrong,  and  he  proceeded  to 
-detail  the  origin  of  his  impression  that  religion  and  money 
ought  to  be  kept  distinct,  partly  as  an  excuse  for  cherish- 
ing it,  and  partly  as  a  justification  of  the  sentiment. 

*  Esquire '  said  he,  *  you  are  much  more  ex- 
perienced in  the  things  of  the  kingdom  than  I ;  but  on  this 
subject  I  reflected  before  I  was  a  Christian  and  made  up 
my  mind ;  and  though  I  have  become  new  in  all  other 
respects,  I  cannot  say  I  have  in  this.  Some  years  ago  I 
read  a  book  on  church  history  which  brought  to  light 
such  a  tissue  of  abominations  that  had  been  wrought  with, 
and  for  money  in  connection  with  religion,  as  convinced 
me  that  the  union  of  the  two  is  all  of  the  devil.  Since 
that,  whenever  I  hear  of  an  attempt  to  associate  money 
3 


2(5  THEIR  PRESENT  INFLUENCE. 

with  religion,  I  at  once  think  of  monks  and  monasteries 
with  all  their  ghostly  array,  of  priests  in  princely  palaces 
fattening  on  the  hard  earnings  of  the  poor,  of  indulgences, 
and  benefices,  and  pious  frauds,  and  inquisitions,  and  it 
seems  to  me  that  there  is  no  way  of  keeping  the  devil  out 
of  the  church  but  to  keep  money  out  too.  I  am  willing 
to  do  my  part  to  support  our  pastor,  but  I  choose  to  do  it 
as  I  please,  and  when  I  please,  without  subscribing  to 
any  obligation  or  being  spoken  with  on  the  subject.  If 
our  pastor  be  a  man  of  faith,  as  I  believe  he  is,  he  will 
not  fear  to  trust  God  for  his  living  without  having  men  for 
his  underwriters.' 

*  I  can  appreciate  your  feelings,'  replied  the  lawyer, 
<  in  relation  to  these  corruptions  of  the  church  in  past 
ages,  of  which  money  has  been  to  a  great  extent  either 
the  instrument  or  the  object.  I  am  convinced  that  these 
foul  pages  in  the  history  of  what  is  called  Christianity, 
are  not  only  propagating  infidelity  in  the  world,  but  irre- 
ligious practices  in  the  church.  And  even  the  remedy 
which  the  reformation  applied  to  these  ancient  abuses,  has 
had  its  share  of  influence  in  producing  the  present  state 
of  things.  The  tendency  of  the  human  mind  is  to  ex- 
tremes. Because  ministers  were  once  domineering,  lord- 
ing it  over  God's  heritage,  we  now  deny  them  the  autho- 
rity which  is  necessary  to  edification.  Because  their  in- 
come was  once  enormous,  we  now  withhold  from  them 
a  competent  support.  There  is  probably  no  class  of  men 
on  the  face  of  the  earth  of  equal  talent  and  labor,  that  re- 
ceive  so  little  compensation.  And  hundreds  consider  what 
they  do  give  them  as  a  charity,  not  the  discharge  of  a 


ABSURDITY.  27 

jost  demand.  Thus,  their  office  is  degraded  to  a  con- 
dilion  of  abject  dependence.  Being  often  deprived  also 
of  official  influence  or  authority,  they  are  obliged  to  sup- 
ply  its  place  by  contrivance,  and  a  function  to  which  in- 
dependence is  more  necessary  than  to  any  other,  never 
fails  to  be  the  sport  of  faction,  ignorance,  and  imbecility, 
unless  performed  by  hands  and  guided  by  a  skill  more 
than  human.  The  consequence  is,  that  ministers,  all  but 
the  more  rarely  gifted,  are  the  mere  foot-balls  of  society, 
to  be  driven  from  place  to  place  as  covetousness,  caprice 
and  impiety  may  direct.  And  all  this  too,  because  a 
class  of  vile  monsters  in  ages  past,  chose  to  assume  the 
style  of  Christian  ministers,  to  whom  it  no  more  belonged 
than  the  appellation  of  saint  does  to  the  devil.  Because 
wicked  men  once  made  religion  a  lure  for  securing  to 
themselves  unearned  fortunes,  must  we  now  refuse  it  any 
control  over  our  wordly  property?  Why  do  we  not 
give  up  the  Bible,  because  the  devil  once  made  it  an  in- 
strument to  tempt  our  Saviour  with  ?  All  I  contend  for 
is,  that  religion  and  wealth  be  put  upon  the  same  basis  in 
relation  to  each  other,  that  reason  and  the  scriptures  dic- 
tate. If  we  plead  the  abuses  of  past  ages  as  an  argu- 
ment against  any  system  of  religious  expenditure,  why 
not  plead  them  against  sermons,  prayers,  and  even  re- 
ligion itself,  as  infidels  do,  all  of  which  have  been  as 
much  abused  as  pecuniary  offerings.  I  have  long  been 
in  the  habit  of  assigning  to  the  much  that  has  been  said 
and  written  against  privileged  orders  in  the  church,  an 
important  influence  among  the  causes  that  have  produced 
our  present  disregard  to  the  claims   which  God  and  hu. 


28  CONVICTION  OF  ME.  L. 

manity  make  upon  our  wordly  income.  Yet,  it  is  no  ei^ 
cuse,  no,  not  any !' 

This  conversation,  all  the  particulars  of  which  we 
need  not  detail,  had  its  desired  effect  upon  the  mind  of 
Mr.  L.  producing  in  him  a  change  scarcely  less  remark- 
able, than  his  previous  conversion  from  sin  to  holiness. 
The  struggle  however  was  severe,  and  it  was  long  be- 
fore he  could  make  up  his  mind  to  serve  the  Lord  with 
his  property,  as  well  as  with  his  spirit.  No  sooner  had 
his  mind  become  settled,  than  with  a  frankness  peculiarly 
characteristic  of  the  man,  he  came  forward  to  the  church 
and  stated  the  process  through  which  he  had  passed,  and 
the  result  to  which  he  had  come.  His  remarks  made  a 
deep  impression  and  led  to  the  happiest  consequences  to 
the  whole  body. 

*  My  Friends,'  said  he,  *  I  am  a  mystery  to  myself. 
Two  months  ago,  I  was  as  confident  as  I  am  at  this  mo- 
ment that  Christ  was  all  in  all  to  my  soul,  that  his  ward 
was  sweeter  to  my  taste  than  honey  or  the  honeycomb, 
that  his  cause  was  all  that  I  had  to  live  for,  and  that 
dying  I  had  the  joyful  hope  of  praising  him  forever.  But 
with  all  these  feelings,  I  confess  to  you,  that  the  thought 
of  serving  him  in  the  use  of  my  money  never  entered  my 
mind.  Instead  of  this,  I  placed  my  religion  at  an  infinite 
remove  from  all  participation  in  my  wordly  affairs,  and 
dreaded  their  contact  like  that  of  ice  with  the  fire  at 
which  I  would  warm  in  a  cold  day.  But,  when  there  are 
so  many  ways  of  doing  good  with  my  wordly  substance, 
how  I  should  have  been  so  spell-bound  as  not  to  see  it,  is 
astonishing.     It  seems  to  me  that  it  must  have  been  of  the 


HIS  CONFESSION.  29 

devil  to  prevent  the  injury  I  should  otherwise  inflict  upon 
his  kingdom.  Lord,  open  my  eyes,  is  my  prayer ;  for 
such  a  field  of  glorious  labor  was  hid  from  me  then,  how 
do  I  know  but  some  one  equally  interesting  and  important 
is  hid  from  me  now !  But  I  bless  the  Lord  for  the  pri- 
vilege of  entering  upon  this,  and  I  pray  him  for  grace  to 
enter  upon  all  others  that  may  open  to  my  view.  Yes, 
brethren,  in  the  dead  hours  of  midnight — glory  be  to 
God  !  in  the  dead  hours  of  midnight,  I  have  met  with  my 
Saviour,  and  have  entered  into  a  solemn  covenant  with  him 
to  consecrate  all  the  proceeds  of  my  property  to  his  service, 
beyond  a  reasonable  supply  for  myself  and  family.  For 
I  have  already  accumulated  enough,  and  I  fear  more  than 
enough.  I  ask  for  no  more,  I  want  no  more,  except  as  a 
means  of  doing  good.  It  cost  me  an  awful  struggle  to 
come  to  this  resolve — my  covetous  heart  rebelled  ;  I 
thought  my  objections  to  giving  were  all  religious,  but 
when  I  came  to  canvass  them,  I  found  them  selfish, 
wicked,  damnable.  But  God  has  given  me  grace  to  tri. 
umph  over  them,  and  since  I  have,  the  peace  of  heaven 
has  been  poured  into  my  heart  like  a  river.  I  never 
looked  on  my  farm,  and  flocks  and  herds  with  such  eyes 
of  delight  as  I  do  at  this  moment.  They  have  afibrded 
me  more  happiness  since  I  gave  them  to  God,  than  they 
ever  did  before.  I  see  in  them  the  means  of  multiplying 
Bibles,  tracts,  Sunday  schools,  missionaries,  of  providing 
instruction  for  seamen,  and  of  doing  good  in  many  ways 
to  the  bodies  and  souls  of  men.  Blessed  be  God,  on  my 
farm,  at  my  plough,  among  my  flocks  and  herds,  and  ^f, 
market,  I  can  be  a  messenger  of  mercy,  not  less  than 
3* 


80  OTHERS  LIKE  HIM. 

those  who  labor  under  the  eaves  of  a  pagoda.  Yes,  1 
can  be  a  missionary  of  goodwill  to  enlighten,  to  bless,  and 
to  save.  O  accursed  selfishness,  that  I  had  not  seen  it 
before.  Brethren,  how  could  you  receive  me  to  your 
church  with  this  damning  sin  upon  me  ?  Yes,  upon  me, 
and  you  did  not  attempt  to  remove  it !'  Here  his  feelings, 
overcame  him,  and  with  tokens  of  grief,  to  which  many 
in  the  house  responded,  he  sat  down. 

How  many  live  and  die  as  unconscious  of  their  obli^ 
gations  in  regard  to  the  religious  use  of  their  money  as 
Mr.  L.,  but  who,  if  proper  pains  were  taken  to  direct  their 
attention  to  the  subject,  would  be  as  prompt  as  he,  to  ac-^ 
knowledge  and  act  upon  those  obligations  I 


CHAPTER  III. 

Present  earthJiness  of  the  church — its  influence  upon  the  disposal  of 
estates,  as  instanced  in  deacon  Brooks  of 

That  men  should  take  different  routes,  renders  it  by- 
no  means  certain  that  thef^  will  not  terminate  in  the  same 
point.  We  have  already  observed,  that  the  tendency  of 
human  nature  to  physical  exercises  and  enjoyments,  is 
much  stronger  than  to  those  which  are  spiritual  and  im- 
mortal. If  the  phrase,  "  without  God  in  the  world,"  indi- 
cate a  practical  disregard  of  his  authority,  it  might  be 
branded  on  nine-tenths  of  the  inhabitants  of  any  country, 
as  a  true  index  of  their  character. 

Innumerable  seductions  to  a  merely  earthly  mode  of 
life,  as  opposed  to  spiritual,  arise  from  the  immediate  con- 
tact of  its  objects  with  the  senses,  from  the  prospect  of  soon 
enjoying  a  consummation  of  the  good  which  it  proposes, 
and  from  the  extreme  distance  and  uncertainty  which  in 
our  view,  invest  the  rewards  of  an  opposite  course.  A 
child's  top,  near  the  eye,  appears  larger  than  a  pyramid  in 
the  distance,  and  a  present  gratification,  however  trifling 
weighs  heavier  in  the  calculations  of  most,  than  any 
amount  of  good  which  labors  under  the  disadvantage  of 
being  remote.  The  seeds  of  atheism  may  be  found  in  this 
predominant  inclination,  to  the  extreme  of  bodily  exercise 
and  present  gratification.     It  leads  on  to  the  deification  of 


32  ATHEISM    OF    CHRISTIANS. 

"  things  temporal,"  and  to  the  extinction  of  all  the  higher 
hopes  of  a  spiritual  and  immortal  existence.  Its  language 
is,  "  Reason  and  Nature,  these  ought  to  be  the  gods  of 
men.  Admire  nature,  cultivate  reason,  the  tyrant  priests, 
who  extend  their  dominion  into  another  world,  must  be 
destroyed,  or  they  will  destroy  us."* 

Now,  though  devotion  to  sensible  and  present  good,  to 
the  exclusion  of  that  which  is  spiritual  and  eternal,  when 
it  has  grown  to  this  extreme,  is  an  object  of  abhorrence 
to  most,  yet,  has  it  not  at  least  an  elementary  existence 
among  those  who  profess  to  live  for  eternity  T  Do  they 
not  sometimes  and  in  some  respects  appear  to  have  adopt- 
ed this  as  their  motto,  "  Let  us  eat  and  drink,  for  to- 
morrow we  die."  Are  all  their  plans  of  labor,  enjoyment 
and  expenditure,  formed  under  the  impression  that  the  pre- 
sent improvement  and  future  salvation  of  the  soul,  is  the 
first  of  all  objects  1  Do  they  live  like  a  colony  which 
heaven  has  planted  on  earth  to  effect  conquests  for  its 
King,-  among  the  barbarous  clans  which  surround  them, 
and  to  restore  the  world  to  its  original  state  of  moral 
bloom,  and  beauty,  and  fertility  ?  Do  they  make  every 
thing  subordinate  to  the  higher  interests  of  the  soul  and 
eternity  ?  Just  so  far  as  they  do  not,  they  are  practical 
atheists.  If  in  the  pursuit,  use,  or  enjoyment  of  any  ob- 
ject,  "  things  eternal"  are  wholly  thrown  out  of  the  con- 
sideration, in  that  particular,  they  are  without  God  in  the 
world.  Whether  ye  eat  or  drink,  or  whatsoever  ye  do,  do 
all  to  the  glory  of  God.  Was  there  not  too  much  reason 
in  the  remark  of  a  certain  man  of  the  world,  when  he 

♦  Speech  of  M.  Dupont,  in  the  French  National  Conventioa. 


ALARMING   CASE.  33 

said,  "  I  calculate  to  become  a  Christian.  But  the  fact 
is,  a  man  must  have  property  ;  unless  he  has,  he  is  scarce- 
ly respected  by  the  church.  And  I  mean  to  make  money, 
and  enjoy  life,  and  when  I  have  got  things  around  me  to  my 
mind,  then  I  will  be  liberal,  and  feed  the  poor,  and  do  good; 
that  is  the  way  church  members  do."  Poor  man,  not  long 
after  this  avowal,  he  was  thrown  from  his  carriage,  and 
precipitated  into  eternity,  without  completing  the  design 
which  church  members  taught  him  to  form. 

There  has  always  appeared  to  me  something  singular 
in  the  conduct  of  professors  of  religion,  in  reference  to  the 
use  of  their  worldly  substance.  If  I  mistake  not,  the  cases 
are  rare,  in  which  the  adoption  of  the  Christian  faith  leads 
to  any  new  modes  of  procedure,  in  regard  to  the  use  of 
money.*  It  is  not  so  with  time,  the  gift  of  speech,  or  any 
other  earthly  blessing.     The  converted  man  readily  con- 

*  The  author's  opinion  has  lately  been  sought  on  the  following  case, 
which  is  stated  because  there  are  many  like  it.  A  man,  who,  while 
in  the  mercantile  business  some  years  since,  contrived  by  several 
fraudulent  failures,  to  keep  back  from  his  creditors  a  property  suffi- 
cient for  his  support  in  a  state  of  freedom  from  the  toils  of  business, 
has  professed  to  be  converted  in  a  recent  revival.  But  as  yet,  he  has 
taken  no  measures  to  indemnify  his  creditors.  The  church  in  his 
neighborhood,  however,  as  too  often  happens  in  such  cases,  are 
awaiting  with  open  arms,  his  reception  to  their  fellowship,  although 
many  of  the  members  are  in  possession  of  the  facts  of  his  past  his- 
tory. Now,  this  is  the  question,  is  it  right?  My  own  opinion  is 
settled,  that  a  conversion  which  cannot  be  relied  on,  to  make  men 
honest  in  this  world,  cannot,  to  make  them  happy  in  the  next.  The 
church,  therefore,  who  should  receive  a  member  under  such  circum- 
stances, without  requiring  him  to  make  restitution,  though  it  were  at 
the  expense  of  his  last  cent,  would  become  accessary  to  his  fraud, 
would  cherish  in  him  a  fatal  delusion,  and  bring  a  wound  upon  the 
cause  which  they  profess  to  love. 


34  DEFECTIVE   CONFESSIONS. 

ceives  that  he  ought  to  devote  time  to  secret  and  family 
prayer,  to  attending  meeting,  not  only  on  the  Sabbath,  but 
other  days,  and  a  failure  to  do  so,  is  considered  on  all  handSy 
as  inseparable  from  a  decline  of  the  Christian  graces.  And 
in  confessing  their  faults,  Christians  as  often  allude  to 
the  parsimony,  of  which  they  have  been  guilty  in  the 
time  devoted  to  prayer,  and  other  religious  exercises,  as 
to  any  other  sin. 

But  do  they  ever  confess  that  they  have  robbed  God 
in  tithes  and  offerings,  that  they  have  not  given  as  much 
money  as  they  ought,  that  covetousness  has  taken  a 
strong  hold  upon  their  feelings,  and  that  this  has  caused 
their  spiritual  decline?  No,  never  did  I  hear  such  a  con- 
fession. And  is  it  because  they  are  innocent  in  this  re- 
spect, and  never  withhold  from  the  cause  of  humanity  and 
of  God,  the  money  which  they  ought  to  bestow  ?  Oh,, 
that  such  a  plea  were  founded  in  truth  !  It  cannot  be ; 
for  the  great  majority  of  those  who  are  connected  with 
our  churches,  either  never  give  at  all  to  religious  objects, 
or  at  least,  have  no  fixed  principle  in  doing  it.  Do  they 
feel  sinless  on  this  point,  because  the  duty  of  devoting 
money  to  God  is  left  equivocal  in  the  scriptures  ?  This  is 
not  possible  ;  for  they  contain  ten  inculcations  of  that 
duty,  where  they  do  one  even  for  observing  the  Lord's 
day.  And  the  former  duty  is,  to  say  the  least,  equally 
sustained  by  the  light  of  nature  with  the  latter.  But  if  a 
Christian,  in  addition  to  restricting  his  times  of  daily  de- 
votion, should  work  on  the  Sabbath  in  the  same  manner 
as  any  other  day,  he  would  not  be  left  to  a  casual  confes> 
sion,  but  the  voice  of  the  church  would  be  raised  against 


PARTIAL    CONSECRATION.  35 

him  in  tones  of  reprobation  that  he  could  not  mistake. 
While  at  the  same  time,  the  majority  of  that  church  per- 
haps,  act  in  regard  to  devoting  money  religiously,  just  as 
that  delinquent  member  does  with  his  time.  They  give 
nothing,  or  they  give  casually,  irregularly,  as  feeling  or 
convenience  may  dictate. 

Moreover  we  employ  the  gift  of  speech,  in  praising, 
praying,  and  other  religious  exercises,  and  should  esteem 
our  piety  exceedingly  deficient  if  we  never  pronounced  a 
word  in  favor  of  the  cause  of  God.  But  what  are  words 
compared  with  the  more  solid  arguments  of  charity  and 
beneficence  ?  Thousands  who  are  the  most  conscientious 
in  introducing  religion  into  their  conversations,  practice  in 
reference  to  plans  of  doing  good  with  their  money  a  re- 
morseless neglect,  owing  either  to  their  not  having  at- 
tended to  the  principles  in  which  this  duty  is  founded,  or 
to  supposing  that  their  families  have  a  natural  right  to  the 
whole  of  their  income,  or  more  probably  to  deeply  seated 
habits  of  covetousness.  It  is  to  be  feared  that  the  number 
who  seriously  aim  at  acting  as  they  ought  on  this  point, 
is  extremely  small.  And  if  we  often  fail  of  doing  as  we 
ought  when  we  aim  at  doing  thus,  how  certain  is  it  that 
we  wholly  fail,  when  no  such  aim  has  yet  been  formed. 

It  may  be  said  that  this  is  an  age  of  beneficence,  and 
that  in  these  remarks,  we  do  not  allow  due  credit  for  the 
immense  sums  which  are  annually  contributed  to  the  dif- 
ferent plans  of  human  improvement.  To  this  we  reply, 
that  when  we  say  that  the  number  who  act  on  a  system 
of  liberal  beneficence,  in  the  use  of  their  money  is  small, 
we  mean  that  it  is  so,  in  comparison  with  what  it  ought  to 


36  OBJECTION    CONSIDERED. 

be,  not  with  what  it  has  been.  For,  though  the  present 
age  is  extremely  deficient  in  this  respect,  there  have  been 
those  much  more  so.  How  small  is  the  aggregate  of  all 
that  is  annually  given  in  this  country,  for  benevolent  pur. 
poses,  compared  with  the  number  in  it,  who  profess  re- 
ligion !  If  it  were  equally  divided  among  them,  how 
small  would  be  the  amount  for  each !  Probably  a  tax  of 
a  oent  to  the  dollar,  upon  all  the  property  in  the  hands  of 
the  American  church,  would  furnish  an  aggregate  of  ten 
times  the  value  of  our  annual  charities,  even  in  this  proud 
age  of  benevolence ! 

But,  besides  that  portion  of  our  charities  which  comes 
from  persons  out  of  the  church,  (and  it  is  considerable,) 
how  large  a  deduction  must  be  made  for  those  who  give 
merely  on  the  spur  of  the  moment,  without  any  con- 
ception of  its  being  their  duty  to  act  upon  system  !  And 
if  the  motives  of  all  were  brought  to  the  test  of  our  Sa- 
viour's precept,  how  sadly  deficient  would  they  be  found  ! 
But  when  thou  doest  alms,  let  not  thy  left  hand  know  what 
thy  right  hand  doeth  ;  that  thine  alms  may  be  in  secret, 
and  thy  Father  which  seeth  in  secret,  himself  shall  reward 
thee  openly. 

That  among  those  who  make  it  a  point  to  give,  there 
is  no  fixed  principle  of  action,  as  there  is  in  supporting 
their  families,  is  evident  from  the  inequality  of  their  bene- 
factions. Some  that  have  the  stewardship  of  large  estates, 
give  little,  while  others  with  a  moderate  income,  give 
liberally.  Hence,  either  the  one  or  the  other,  are  not  in 
the  way  of  their  duty  ;  for  truth  and  duty  are  uniform, 
speaking  the  same  language  in  every  heart,  and  produ- 


ABSENCE   OP   PRINCIPLE.  87 

cing  the  same  results  upon  every  life.  Not  only  so,  but 
the  labor  and  expense  which  it  costs,  to  gather  up  the 
benefactions  of  the  church,  show  an  absence  of  principle 
ill  this  matter.  Did  every  man  provide  to  lay  out  a  por- 
tion of  his  income  upon  the  cause  of  God  in  the  same 
manner  that  he  provides  for  the  support  of  his  own  family, 
there  would  be  a  regular  flow  into  the  treasury  of  bene- 
volence, just  as  there  is  of  water  into  the  ocean.  Under  the 
present  system,  however,  religious  offerings  more  re- 
semble columns  of  water  forced  upward  by  an  artificial 
process,  which  is  no  sooner  discontinued,  than  they  re- 
turn as  usual  to  their  downward  coui-se. 

Having  seen  in  the  previous  chapter,  the  pretext  which 
the  spirituality  of  religion  furnishes  for  denying  it  all  par- 
ticipation in  the  disposal  of  our  worldly  estates,  and  for 
perpetuating  the  evils  of  which  we  complain,  it  may  be 
proper  to  contemplate  the  influence  of  a  worldly  spirit,  in 
producing  the  same  result.  We  know  not  that  this  can 
be  better  done,  than  by  selecting  another  character  from 
the  same  circle  to  which  the  other  belonged.  Perhaps  by 
Jooking  farther,  a  more  pertinent  case  might  be  found  ; 
but  I  choose  to  confine  myself  to  what  has  fallen  under  my 
own  observation,  presuming  that  it  will  be  found  a  fair 
specimen  of  the  religious  public  at  large.  If  the  reader 
can  select  a  better  case,  let  him  do  so.  Few  studies  are 
more  profitable  than  that  of  human  nature,  as  it  is  ex- 
hibited in  real  life.  Practice  is  the  test  of  principles,  and 
consequences  sooner  or  later  develop  the  qualities  of 
character.  Virtue,  truth  and  piety,  so  far  from  suffering 
by  a  comparison  of  their  results,  with  those  of  vice,  error 
4 


38  ANCESTRY   OP   DEACON   B. 

and  wickedness,  will  only  shine  the  brighter  by  every 
such  comparison.  Let  any  one,  therefore,  who  has  been 
conversant  with  the  world  for  a  third  or  half  a  century, 
sit  down  to  the  task  of  surveying  all  the  characters  em- 
braced within  the  limit  of  his  personal  knowledge,  at  the 
same  time  viewing  them  in  connection  with  what  he  knows 
of  their  history,  and  he  will  be  able  to  gather  as  much  of 
the  honey  of  moral  truth,  as  from  any  other  field  of  ob- 
servation. It  is  here  that  virtue  inculcates  its  lessons^ 
« in  thoughts  that  breathe,  and  words  that  burn." 

Among  those  upon  whom  our  solicitors  called,  after 
leaving  the  house  of  Mr.  Latham,  was  a  wealthy  mer- 
chant from  the  city  of ,  who,  with  his  family, 

had  just  arrived  at  his  country  seat  in  the  neighborhood, 
having  come  to  enjoy  the  blandishments  of  a  rural  spring, 
and  to  attend  to  the  dressing  of  his  garden  and  pleasure 
grounds.  This  was  deacon  Brooks,  a  gentleman  who 
had  long  served  in  that  office,  one  of  our  wealthiest  and 
most  respectable  metropolitan  churches,  and  who  had  with 
many,  the  reputation  of  having  purchased  a  good  degree, 
and  great  boldness  in  the  faith.  He  was  descended  from  a 
line  of  pious  ancestors,  who  had  drunk  deep  into  puritani- 
cal principles,  from  their  earliest  and  purest  sources,  and 
many  of  whom  had  belonged  to  the  same  church,  of  which 
he  was  now  a  member.  Great  care  had  been  taken  by 
his  parents,  to  instruct  him  in  those  doctrines  of  the  re- 
formation, which  are  called  Calvinistic,  and  to  guard  him 
against  a  more  Latitudinarian  faith  ;  and  their  zeal  was 
early  repaid,  by  witnessing  in  him  a  fondness  for  the 
Bible,  the  place  of  public  worship,  the  society  of  serious  per- 


HIS    COVETOUS    FATHER.  39 

sons,  united  to  a  most  unblemished  character.  And  to  crown 
their  joy,  ere  he  was  fifteen  years  old,  he  gave  ample 
satisfaction  to  their  pastor  and  church,  of  having  been  the 
subject  of  a  work  of  grace,  and  was  accordingly  received 
as  a  member. 

As  they  expected  to  leave  with  him  a  large  patrimony, 
sufficient  for  him  to  embark  in  the  mercantile  business  on 
an  extended  scale,  they  gave  him  an  education  adapted  to 
that  calling,  and  sent  him  to  serve  a  clerkship  under  one 
of  the  most  enterprising  merchants  of  their  city.  The 
father  of  Brooks,  in  addition  to  his  piety,  had  always  been 
considered  a  close  man  for  the  world,  knew  the  best  side 
of  a  bargain  as  well  as  any  other  man  ; 

"  This  was  a  way  to  thrive,  and  he  was  blest, 
And  thrift  is  blessinjj  if  men  steal  it^not." 

He  might  be  called,  if  the  term  were  admissible,  a 
religious  man  of  the  world.  Nor  was  the  son  less  expert  in 
seizing  on  his  spirit  and  habits  in  this  respect,  than  in  em- 
bracing his  faith.  His  sobriety,  accuracy,  and  applica- 
tion, secured  for  him  the  unbounded  confidence  of  his  em- 
ployer, and  the  respect  of  all  his  customers.  No  man 
earned  more,  spent  less,  was  more  constant,  or  more  faith- 
ful in  his  business  than  young  Brooks.  His  fixther  dying 
about  the  time  of  his  majority,  left  the  settlement  of  his 
estate  with  him,  which  he  executed  with  all  the  precision 
and  promptitude  of  maturer  years.  Having  received  his 
patrimony  he  immediately  embarked  in  trade  for  himself, 
and  soon  establislied  one  of  the  largest  and  most  respecta- 
ble houses  in  his  native  city.     In  his  conduct  as  a  church 


40  HIS  HABITS  AND  TASTE. 

member  precisely  the  same  characteristics  appeared  as  in 
his  business.  He  was  punctual  at  the  meetings  of  the 
church,  prompt  at  the  business  committed  to  him,  which 
was  soon  very  considerable,  and  no  man  as  a  disciplinarian 
had  a  better  reputation  than  he.  He  was  as  familiar 
with  every  peg  and  pin  about  the  meeting  house  and  par- 
sonage as  he  was  with  his  own  counting  room.  Noth- 
ing could  get  out  of  order  without  his  knowing  it.  By  his 
means  chiefly  the  former  edifice,  whose  style  was  antique 
and  magnificent,  was  fitted  up  with  all  the  conveniences 
and  embellishments  of  a  modern  and  more  luxurious  age. 

Upon  these  objects,  as  also  upon  the  comforts  of  his 
own  family,  and  every  thing  within  the  reach  of  his  senses 
over  which  he  had  control,  he  was  liberal  in  his  expendi- 
tures. His  love  of  order,  convenience,  and  elegance^ 
would  no  more  allow  him  to  neglect  his  meeting  house  and 
parsonage,  where  so  much  of  his  time  was  spent,  than  it 
would  allow  him  to  be  inattentive  to  the  furniture  of  his 
own  parlor.  Whenever  a  great  meeting  was  to  be  held 
with  his  church,  also,  none  was  more  active  in  pre- 
paring for  the  delegates,  or  gave  them  a  more  sumptuous 
entertainment  than  Deacon  Brooks.  Thus,  the  same 
habits  of  attention  and  regularity  that  made  him  one  of  the 
most  successful  merchants  in  his  city,  threw  over  the  af- 
fairs of  his  church  an  aspect  of  prosperity  amounting  even 
to  opulence. 

There  was  only  one  point  of  view  in  which  Deacon  B. 
was  deficient,  and  that  was  in  spiritual  mindedness  and  its 
concomitant  virtues.  He  was  one  of  those  Christians  who 
can  endure  a  calm  better  than  a  storm,  and  who  seem  most 


WANT  OF  SPIRITUALITY.  41 

in  their  element  when  spiritual  religion  is  at  its  lowest 
ebb.  If  there  was  to  be  a  season  of  humiliation  and  prayer 
in  his  church,  his  seat  was  filled  to  be  sure,  because  his 
habits  of  regularity  would  not  allow  him  to  stay  away ; 
but  it  was  apparent  that  he  felt  more  interest  in  having 
the  place  of  meeting  well  swept,  than  in  having  the  churcli 
purified  from  its  sins.  He  was  punctual  to  the  time  of 
prayer  in  the  family  and  in  the  church,  but  his  words  were 
so  uniform,  that  you  could  tell  at  every  stage  of  his  prayer 
what  he  would  say  next,  and  when  he  would  finish.  He 
took  pride  in  paying  his  pastor,  because  he  was  a  man  of 
distinction;  but  another  minister  of  less  factitious  embeJlish- 
ment,  and  especially  of  less  celebrity,  though  his  talents 
were  superior,  he  would  lightly  esteem.  And  as  to  devi- 
sing plans  of  doing  good  to  the  bodies  and  souls  of  men, 
with  his  overgrown  wealth,  nothing  could  be  more  foreign 
from  his  mind.  If  appealed  to  in  behalf  of  the  millions 
who  are  perishing  for  lack  of  knowledge,  or  any  object 
remote  from  his  senses,  he  would  feel  as  little  interested 
as  in  a  mission  to  the  moon.  In  fact,  he  could  no  more 
see  any  connection  between  the  payment  of  his  money  and 
the  advancement  of  spiritual  religion,  or  the  improvement 
of  the  human  character  and  condition,  than  he  could  de- 
tect with  his  eyes  the  attraction  of  gravity.  There  was 
but  one  consideration  that  could  ever  induce  him  to  make 
a  donation  to  any  object  where  he  could  not  see  and  enjoy 
the  benefit  of  it,  and  that  was  a  regard  to  the  reputation 
of  his  church.  If  other  churches  were  doing  for  such 
objects,  and  his  pastor  thought  they  ought  not  to  be  back- 
VFard,  he  would  then  exert  hims'jlf  to  have  an  amount 
4* 


42  COUNTRY  SEAT. 

raised  worthy  of  the  respectability  and  opulence  of  his 
church.     The  sentiment  that 

'♦  Extravagance  and  av'rice  shall  subscribe, 
While  fame.and  self-complaisance  are  the  bribe," 

was  exactly  illustrated  in  him  ;  for  he  has  been  known  to 
prevent  raising  any  amount,  merely  because  things  were 
not  ripe  for  raising  more  than  every  other  church  in  his 
neighborhood.  As  to  any  regular  system  of  using  his 
money  for  the  glory  of  God,  it  was  as  remote  from  his 
mind,  as  it  was  from  the  mind  of  farmer  Latham,  though 
he  came  to  this  result  by  entirely  a  different  route.  While 
the  latter  was  fearful  that  the  heavenly  dove  would  be 
terrified  from  his  heart  by  the  chinking  of  dollars,  the  for- 
mer was  too  much  occupied  with  the  external  forms  and 
embellishments  of  religion  to  allow  a  spiritual  and  remote 
consideration  to  extract  from  him  a  farthing. 

Such  was  the  man  to  whom  our  solicitors  made  their 
second  application  for  the  means  of  doing  good.  As  they 
opened  the  massy  iron  gate  into  the  spacious  enclosure  of 
Deacon  Brooks'  mansion  and  stepped  upon  the  marble 
walks  within,  beheld  an  assemblage  of  trees  and  shrubs  to 
which  every  clime  had  contributed,  and  breathed  the  air 
pregnant  with  their  odors,  the  pious  lawyer  sighing,  ex- 
claimed, *  Is  it  possible  that  the  successor  of  the  first  Chris- 
tian martyr  lives  here  ?  How  many  tears  might  have 
been  dried  by  this  wasted  money  ?  How  many  ignorant 
taught  to  read  the  word  of  life !  How  many  of  the  Lord*s 
poor  might  have  been  fed !  How  many  wandering  re- 
claimed !' 

*  Alas  !'  added  one  of  his  companions,  <  I  doubt  wheth- 


DANGER  OF    LUXURY.  43 

er  the  honors  of  the  first  martyrdom  would  have  clustered 
round  the  name  of  Stephen,  if  he  had  spent  his  money  thus.' 

*  There  is   but  too  much  truth,'  rejoined  the  lawyer, 

'  in  what  is  said  by  one  of  our  poets, 

The  world  is  still  deceived  by  ornament — 

And  ornament  is  but  the  guilded  shore 

To  a  most  dangerous  sea ;  the  beauteous  scarf  j 

Veiling  in  Indian  beauty  ;  in  a  word, 

The  seeming  truth  which  cunning  times  put  on 

To  entrap  the  wisest.* 

*  But  the  rich,'  rejoined  the  other,  *  are  not  alone  in 
abusing  the  stewardship  of  earthly  property.  The  poor 
take  their  full  share  in  the  guilt  of  this  sin.' 

*  It  is  true,'  added  the  lawyer,  *  theft  is  theft  whether 
it  take  one  or  a  thousand.  The  only  difference  is  that  the 
rich  are  able  to  rob  God  on  a  more  extensive  scale.  If  the 
larcenies  of  the  one  are  grand,  those  of  the  other  are  petit; 
and,  as  the  number  of  the  latter  is  much  the  larger,  the 
loss  which  benevolence  sustains  by  them,  is  as  great  or 
greater  than  what  she  suffers  from  the  rich.  This  is  one 
of  the  most  pervading  sins  of  our  land,  yea,  of  our  world. 
Few  have  any  system  of  honoring  God,  or  benefitting 
men  by  the  charitable  use  of  their  worldly  substance. 
Every  one  does  with  it  what  is  right  in  his  own  eyes 
without  regard  to  God.  And  unless  a  remedy  is  applied, 
efficacious  and  general,  piety  will  decline,  and  wealth  will 
act  over  in  our  nation  the  same  scenes  through  which  she 
conducted  Greece,  Rome,  and  other  nations  of  antiquity 
to  misery  and  extinction.' 

With  this,  they  found  themselves  at  the  door  of  the 
mansion,  into  which  they  were  welcomed  by  its  owner 
♦Shakspeare. 


44  RECEPTION — KESISTAACE. 

with  great  cordiality.  Deacon  B.  was  now  a  man  of 
forty-five,  with  a  form  erect,  athletic,  and  rather  inclining 
to  corpulency,  and  with  a  demeanor  portly  and  dignified. 
With  the  exception  of  the  lines  which  care  had  worn  in 
his  visage,  and  which  rather  increased  the  interest  of  his 
appearance,  his  face  was  as  smooth  as  ever,  his  cheek  as 
florid,  and  his  spirits  as  brilliant. 

His  treatment  of  the  visitors  seemed  to  say,  the  best 
that  this  house  affords  is  yours — '  Whal'll  you  have  to 
refresh  you  ? — a  thousand  welcomes.  Your  mountain- 
breezes  to  one  who  has  been  pent  up  in  the  city  are  like 
being  fanned  by  angel-wings.  Truly,  God  made  the 
country,  but  man  made  the  town.  How  fare  all  things 
in  your  village?  well,  I  hope.' 

Thus,  an  aspect  of  pleasantry  was  spread  over  iho 
whole  scene,  till  the  solicitors  began  cautiously  to  disclose 
the  object  of  their  visit,  when  Deacon  B.  instantly  put  him- 
self into  an  attitude  of  resistance,  and  made  them  feel  that 
they  were  intruding  upon  forbidden  ground. 

Before  they  had  proceeded  half  through  their  account 
of  the  outfit,  he  rose  from  his  seat,  folded  his  arms  across 
his  breast,  and  took  one  or  two  stately  rounds  on  the  floor 
of  his  spacious  parlor,  then  said,  '  Gentlemen,  I  wish  you 
could  be  in  our  city  one  week  to  witness  the  swarms  of 
beggars  with  which  we  are  continually  infested.  They 
come  up  like  flies  on  all  the  coast.' 

*  But  do  you  give  them  any  thing,'  inquired  the  lawyer. 
*  I  grant  that  there  is  a  better  way  of  filling  the  coffers  of 
benevolence,  than  that  of  doing  it  by  agents ;  that  if  the 


CONVERSATION.  45 

churches  would  do  their  duty,  much  of  this  labor  and  ex- 
pense  would  be  superseded,  but' 

Here  deacon  B.,  impatiently  interrupted,  *  I  give,  I 
give,  yes,  I  do  my  full  share  towards  supporting  our  own 
church,  and  that  is  enough  for  any  man.' 

*  Then  you  do  nothing  for  missions,'  said  one  of  the 
solicitors. 

Deacon  B.,  *  1,  yes,  our  pastor  thought  whe»  an 
agent  was  along  last  winter,  that  we  ought  not  to  be 
behind  others,  and  we  raised  for  him  one  thousand 
dollars,  of  which  I  gave  one  hundred.' 

Solicitor.  '  That  was  well ;  and  having  made  so  good 
beginning,  we  hope  you  will  aid  us  too.' 

*Aid  you,  no.  I  had  as  lief  throw  my  money  into 
the  ocean,  as  to  lay  it  out  upon  these  paltry  charities,  that 
are  springing  up  like  noxious  weeds,  all  over  the  country. 
Your  nutshell  schemes  may  do  for  narrow  minds,  and 
empty  purses  ;  but  when  I  give,  it  shall  be  to  something 
that  has  dignity,  and  that  fills  a  broad  space  in  the 
public  eye.  Then  I  can  feel  a  security,  that  an  object 
will  be  accomplished  worthy  of  my  money.' 

'Allow  me  to  inquire,  deacon  B.,'  said  the  lawyer, 
*  have  you  any  plan  of  serving  God  and  your  generation,  in 
the  use  of  that  estate  of  which  you  are  made  the  steward  ? 
Do  you  render  it  productive  of  the  greatest  possible  amount 
of  good  ?  From  how  many  hearts  have  you  extracted 
with  it,  the  thorn  of  anguish  ?  How  many  wanderers  has 
it  enabled  you  to  direct  into  the  way  of  truth  and  eternal 
life  ?  Do  you  as  regularly  serve  Christ  with  your  money, 
as  with  your  time,  your  voice,  and  with  other  earthly 
blessings  ?     Have  you  yet  yielded  to  the  claims  which  he 


46  CONVERSATION. 

makes  upon  your  worldly  substance?'  '  As  to  that 
matter,'  said  deacon  B.,  *  I  have  always  done  my  part 
to  support  my  minister,  and  I  take  pleasure  in  doing  so, 
for  he  is  a  learned  and  celebrated  man,  and  I  am  instructed 
by  his  sermons.  I  have  not  been  backward  in  paying  my 
money,  to  repair  and  embellish  our  meeting-house,  and  to 
keep  the  parsonage  in  good  condition.  These  things  I 
have  done  as  regularly,  as  I  have  provided  for  my  own 
family.  Why  is  not  that  serving  God  with  my  pro- 
perty V 

'  Deacon  B.'  rejoined  the  lawyer,  *  you  pay  your 
money  to  educate  your  children  also,  but  is  that  a  reason 
for  your  doing  nothing  to  instruct  the  children  of  the  poor 
and  the  ignorant  ?  That  you  are  under  obligation  to  the 
latter  as  well  as  to  your  own,  is  a  principle  recognized  by 
our  civil  authorities  ;  and  hence  you  are  required  under 
the  pains  and  penalties  of  law,  to  pay  an  annual  tax  for 
the  purpose  of  general  education.  If  such  a  law  is  founded 
in  equity,  then  would  you  not  be  bound  as  a  Christian,  to 
do  something  for  the  general  purposes  of  education,  even 
if  you  were  not  required  by  law  ?  And  are  there  not 
cases  in  which  you  are  thus  bound,  where  the  civil  au- 
thorities make  no  demand  upon  you  ? 

'You  take  care  of  your  family  when  they  are  sick,  but 
is  that  visiting  the  fatherless  and  widow  in  their  afflictions  ? 
In  these  things  you  do  better  certainly,  than  those  who 
will  not  educate  their  own  children,  nor  watch  over  their 
sick  families.  The  question  is  not  whether  you  make  it 
a  point  to  do  some  duties  in  the  use  of  your  money,  but 
whether  you  do  them  ail. 


CONVERSATION.  47 

*  In  supporting  public  worship  for  your  own  benefit,  and 
that  of  your  family,  you  certainly  do  better  than  those 
who  take  no  interest  at  all  in  matters  of  this  kind,  neither 
for  their  own  benefit,  nor  for  that  of  others.  But  is  this 
a  gift  ?  Is  it  charity  ?  Do  you  not  obtain  an  equi- 
valent? Is  not  the  instruction  you  receive  from  your 
minister,  as  well  worth  the  money  you  pay  him,  as  the 
labors  of  your  school  teacher  are  of  what  you  pay  him  ? 
If  you  answer,  no,  I  imagine  your  minister  would  con- 
sider it  no  compliment  to  his  talents.  You  own  a  part  of 
the  property  in  your  meeting  house,  and  when  you  lay 
out  money  upon  that,  you  increase  the  value  of  your  pro- 
perty in  it,  besides  realizing  the  value  of  what  you  pay  in 
the  additional  comforts  which  you  enjoy  in  attending  wor- 
ship. Moreover,  the  money  expended  upon  the  institu- 
tions of  religion  in  one's  own  town,  is  fully  realized  in 
most  cases,  by  the  general  rise  of  property,  and  on  this 
very  principle,  infidels  invest  their  money  in  such  institu- 
tions. The  question  is,  whether  the  additional  value  of 
property  in  your  city  arising  from  your  religious  institu- 
tions, will  not  more  than  cover  the  cost  of  them.  What, 
therefore,  do  ye  more  than  others,  or  more  than  you  do, 
when  you  put  your  money  into  a  bank,  to  receive  your 
regular  dividends  ?  My  dear  sir,  is  there  not  after  all 
some  other  way  of  serving  God  and  our  generation,  in  the 
use  of  our  property.' 

Deacon  Brooks,  who  had  sat  very  uneasy  under  these 
remarks,  replied  rather  angrily,  *  Have  I  not  told  you 
that  I  gave  a  hundred  dollars  last  winter,  for  missions ; 
and  I  shall  probably  do  something  again,  when  I  think  the 


48  UNHAPPY    CONCLUSION. 

circumstances  call  for  it.  I  would  enter  as  promptly  as 
any  man,  into  plans  for  doin^  good,  provided  they  were 
sufficiently  ample  and  magnificent,  to  embrace  the  world. 
But  to  send  out  a  single  missionary,  is  like  throwing  a 
thimble  full  of  sugar  into  the  ocean,  with  the  view  of 
sweetening  it. 

*  You  first  tell  us  that  a  population  of  more  than  six 
hundred  millions,  need  missionaries,  and  then  ask  aid  to 
place  among  this  vast  assemblage,  a  little  handful  of  men, 
perhaps  one  for  every  ten  millions.  But  what  can  one 
man  do,  for  so  many  ignorant,  polluted,  besotted  pagans, 
speaking  a  language  to  which  he  is  a  stranger,  and  in- 
habiting a  climate,  that  may  perhaps  prove  fatal  to  him, 
the  first  year  of  his  residence  among  them  ?  How  should 
I  appear,  were  I  to  require  a  single  clerk,  to  transact  a 
mercantile  business  of  a  million  a  year  ?  No,  no,  gen- 
tlemen, I  am  too  much  a  matter  of  fact  man,  to  be  de- 
coyed into  such  visionary  schemes.  I  am  a  friend  to 
my  race,  and  as  soon  as  I  see  something  devised  for  their 
melioration,  that  approves  itself  to  common  sense,  some 
beginning  on  a  scale,  that  shall  promise  a  favorable  end- 
ing, some  plans  that  will  bear  the  severe  test  of  mathe- 
matical calculation,  to  which  every  enterprise  in  which  I 
embark,  must  first  be  subjected ;  then,  gentlemen,  my 
purse  and  myself,  too,  shall  be  at  your  service.' 

Seeing  that  it  would  be  of  no  use  to  urge  the  matter 
further,  the  solicitors  dismissed  the  subject,  and  soon  took 
their  leave  of  the  deacon  and  his  mansion,  resolved  never 
more  to  suflfer  the  mortification  of  visiting  it,  on  a  similar 
errand. 


INVISIBLE    INFLUENCES.  49 

What  a  numerous  class  of  church  members  are  in  the 
habit,  like  deacon  B.,  of  reducing  every  religious  enter- 
prise to  the  same  carnal  rules  of  calculation  !  They  will 
give,  it  is  true,  to  buy  a  reputation  for  liberality,  in  behalf 
of  themselves  or  their  churches,  but  are  totally  blind  to 
those  secret  influences  which  the  scriptures  represent  as 
operating  in  the  spiritual  world,  and  which  are  often 
wielded  as  potently  in  connection  with  feeble,  as  with  more 
promising  agents.  Had  the  Galilean  fishermen  been  men 
of  this  stamp,  they  would  never  have  attempted  the  con- 
quest of  the  world.  If  the  least  reliance  is  to  be  placed 
in  the  religion  we  profess,  or  in  the  facts  spread  before  us 
in  the  history  of  human  nature,  the  universe  of  mind  is 
subject  to  laws  so  subtle,  yet  so  pervading,  that  secret 
acts  of  charity  and  devotion,  may  throw  out  a  wake  that 
will  reach  the  remotest  points  of  immensity,  and  the  most 
distant  periods  of  eternity.  Who  could  have  foreseen 
that  the  domestic  worship  of  Cornelius,  and  the  little 
shining  dust  he  may  have  given,  in  the  shape  of  alms, 
would  rise  even  to  the  throne  of  God,  and  be  the  direct 
means  of  opening  the  door  of  immortal  hope  to  millions  of 
men  ?  Those  who  do  not  act  with  reference  to  theso  in- 
visibla  influences,  whatever  their  standing  in  the  church, 
are  as  devoid  of  the  essential  elements  of  Christianity,  as 
Voltaire,  or  Hume,  or  Bollingbroke. 


CHAPTER  IV. 


Principles  that  should  guide  us  in  the  use  of  our  pecuniary  resources. 
History  of  W ,  Narrative  of  G n. 


That  failures  to  serve  God  with  our  bodies,  or  to  act 
upon  the  principles  of  religion  in  the  use  of  earthly  gifts, 
are  not  confined  to  money,  is  a  truth  which  finds  too  much 
confirmation  among  all  kinds  of  men.  Were  there  no  de- 
partures from  those  principles,  we  should  be  unable  to  ac- 
count for  the  disappointment  and  disgust,  which  at  present, 
result  to  men  from  pursuing  the  objects  of  this  world. 
These  feelings  are  always  the  fruits  of  those  misdirected 
and  inordinate  passions,  against  which  true  reh'gion  is  so 
pre-eminently  calculated  to  secure  its  votaries.  If  bodily 
exercise  and  appetite,  therefore,  if  the  sight  of  the  eyes, 
the  hearing  of  the  ears,  the  taste,  and  all  the  senses  ;  if 
muscular  vigor,  symmetry  of  form,  beauty  of  complexion, 
melody  of  voice,  and  every  thing  connected  with  our 
physical  existence,  were  subordinated  to  the  higher  in- 
fluences of  religion  and  eternity,  instead  of  proving  a  snare 
as  they  too  often  do,  it  is  impossible  to  conceive  the  extent 
of  good,  which  they  would  be  the  means  of  conferring 
upon  the  world.  There  is  no  point  of  view  in  which  the 
laws  of  God,  whether  revealed  in  nature,  or  in  his  word, 
are  not  adapted  to  improve  earthly  objects,  and  make  them 
more  extensively  productive  of  happiness  to  man. 


52  NATURE  AND    BIBLE    COINCIDENT. 

For  the  laws  of  the  moral  government,  are  every  way 
Suited  to  those  of  the  physical ;  and  as  the  elements  in  the 
nature  of  man  are  such  as  to  give  them  both  a  claim  upon 
him,  he  being  both  a  material  and  a  spiritual  being,  it  is 
impossible  that  he  should  disobey  the  one,  without  doing 
violence  to  the  other.  To  act  against  nature  rightly  in- 
terpreted, is  to  act  against  God,  and  to  act  against  God,  is 
to  act  against  nature.  Hence,  the  commission  of  moral 
evil,  entails  physical  evil  upon  the  world,  and  when  in  the 
evil  hour,  man  reached  forth  his  hand  to  violate  the  divine 
command, 

"  Earth  felt  the  wound,  and  Nature  from  her  seat 
Sighing  through  all  her  works,  gave  signs  of  wo, 
Thai  all  was  lost."  ♦ 

Since  men,  therefore,  do  not  derive  either  from  matter  or 

spirit,  the  happiness  which  they  are  capable  of  imparting, 

we  know  that  they  must  be  in  the  habit  of  doing  violence 

to  the  laws,  under  which  they  are  placed. 

It  would  be  an  interesting  study,  to  trace  out  the  har- 
mony between  revealed  religion  and  the  economy  of  nature 
in  general,  and  to  observe  at  every  point  wherein  obe- 
(Jience  to  the  one,  conduces  to  enjoyment  from  the  other, 
and  wherein  disobedience  to  the  first,  has  already,  and 
must  still  further  diminish  the  power  of  the  other  to  do 
us  good.  Our  object,  however,  is  not  to  take  this  broad 
view,  but  to  confine  ourselves  to  a  single  point,  viz  :  the 
course  of  duly  in  the  use  of  earthly  treasure^  as  connected 
with  the  consequences  of  pursuing  or  neglecting  it. 

That  the  subordination  of  this  object,  to  those  laws 
under  which  God  has  placed  us,  as  they  appear  from  reason 

♦  Milton, 


THE   RICH   MADE   POOR.  53 

and  the  scriptures,  will  make  it  conducive  of  more  happi- 
ness to  ourselves  and  others,  than  by  any  other  method  of 
disposing  of  it,  I  suppose  will  not  be  doubted.  The  meek 
shall  inherit  the  earth.  Godliness  has  the  promise  of  the  life, 
that  now  is.  The  value  of  earthly  substance  depends 
wholly  upon  the  manner  of  using  it,  insomuch  that  when 
perverted,  so  far  from  being  valuable,  it  becomes  an  in- 
strument of  more  evil,  than  almost  any  other  object  en- 
trusted to  human  hands.  The  love  of  money,  is  the  root 
of  all  evil.  The  perjuries,  robberies,  murders,  frauds, 
thefts,  oppressions,  and  infractions  of  all  duty,  to  which  a 
misdirected  passion  for  wealth,  becomes  accessory,  are 
matters  of  universal  notoriety.  Whatever  variations 
human  nature  may  exhibit  in  other  departments,  it  is  uni- 
form in  this.  The  abuse  of  worldly  property,  either  by 
indulging  for  it  an  excessive  passion,  or  in  any  other  way, 
diminishes  its  value,  just  in  proportion  to  the  extent  of  that 
abuse.  Whoever  will  take  the  trouble  to  look  over  the 
results  of  his  own  experience  and  observation,  will  find 
this  remark  as  true  in  fact,  as  it  is  in  theory. 

It  may  seem  otherwise,  upon  a  superficial  view  of  the 
subject,  and  we  may  be  inclined  to  think  that  those  who 
have  few  scruples  as  to  the  manner  of  acquiring  or  using 
property,  obtain  from  it  as  much  value  as  any  other  class. 
We  have  only  to  examine  a  little  more  closely,  however, 
and  to  wait  a  little  longer,  to  be  convinced  that  this  is 
utterly  a  mistake.  Because  actions  and  their  effects,  hap- 
pen to  be  remote  from  each  other,  we  confound  those  of 
the  good,  with  those  of  the  bad,  not  content  to  wait  tiU 

"—in  the  wind  and  tempest  of  fortune's  frowns, 
Distinction  with  a  broad  and  powerful  fan 


54  HOW    TO    GET    RICH. 

Puffinsr  at  all,  winnows  the  light  away  ; 
And  what  hath  mass  and  matter  by  itself 
Lies,  rich  in  virtue,  and  unmingled."  * 

Impatient  and  short  sighted  in  our  decisions,  and  not  duly 
waiting  till  characters  are  subjected  to  the  ordeal  of  time, 
and  a  frowning  fortune,  we  fall  into  the  error  of  calling 
the  proud  happy,  of  setting  up  them  that  work  wicked- 
ness, as  worthy  of  imitation,  and  of  delivering  them  that 
tempt  God.  But  let  things  be  viewed  in  their  true  light, 
and  in  connection  with  their  ultimate  tendencies,  and  it 
would  no  doubt  be  found  true,  that,  that  method  of  using 
wealth,  which  approaches  nearest  to  the  course  which 
reason  and  religion  point  out,  would  make  it  the  most  val- 
uable, both  to  its  owners  and  to  the  world  at  large. 

Hence,  it  is  of  great  importance,  that  the  laws  of  reli- 
gion natural  and  revealed,  in  reference  to  the  use  and  pur- 
suit of  earthly  treasure,  should  be  understood  and  practised. 
Those  laws  are  identified  with  the  true  principles  of  poll- 
tical  economy,  and  furnish  the  only  clue  to  the  wealth  of 
nations.  They  teach  the  true  policy  of  multiplying  the 
resources  of  a  people,  and  of  making  those  resources  min- 
ister the  most  largely  to  the  improvement,  the  happiness, 
and  the  elevation  of  human  nature. 

What  is  the  course,  therefore,  to  which  we  shall  be  im- 
pelled in  the  use  and  pursuit  of  earthly  treasure,  provided 
we  conform  to  the  dictates  of  religion  natural  and  revealed? 

This  is  a  great  question,  the  decision  of  which  will 
show,  not  only  what  we  ought  to  do,  but  what  we  ought 
to  have  done,  and  so  to  what  extent  we  have  been  deficient. 
All  that  we  contemplate  in  this  chapter  is  simply  the 
statement  of  those  principles,  to  enforce  which  succeeding 
*  Shakspeare. 


DEVOTING  WEALTH  TO  GOD.  55 

chapters  will  be  chiefly  devoted.  These  principles  them- 
selves may  be  embraced  in  a  narrow  compass,  although 
the  sources  from  which  they  are  deduced  are  spread  over 
a  wide  field,  including  our  natural  constitution,  our  social 
relations,  and  the  laws  and  tendencies  of  revealed  re- 
ligion. 

There  are  various  uses  to  which  wealth  may  be  turn- 
ed, each  of  which  operates  with  men  as  a  stimulus  to  its 
pursuit.  The  enumeration  of  these  uses  will  be  found  in 
the  succeeding  chapter.  They  are  such  as  supply  of 
personal  wants,  provision  for  future  use  and  need,  the  sup- 
port of  our  families,  the  respectability  which  it  confers, 
the  luxuries,  embellishments,  leisure,  and  various  pleasures 
to  which  it  may  be  made  subservient.  Now,  among  these 
uses  of  wealth,  that  of  devoting  a  roRTiON  of  it  to  god, 
stands  among  the  first  in  point  of  utility,  importance,  and 
the  solemnity  with  which  it  is  enforced.  Hence,  such  a  use 
of  it  should  enter  into  all  our  plans  of  acquiring,  into  all  our 
calculations  about  expending,  and  should  be  ever  present  to 
our  minds  as  much  as  the  supply  of  our  personal  wants  or 
the  support  of  our  families.  Unless  this  course  be  pursued, 
we  have  omitted  an  important  part  of  our  duty  in  the  use 
and  pursuit  of  wealth,  that  part  which  religion  both  natu- 
ral and  revealed  is  more  especially  concerned  to  inculcate. 
This  principle  lies  at  the  basis  of  our  subject. 

We  shall  give  a  passing  attention  also  to  the  propor- 
tion of  a  man's  worldly  income  which  he  is  bound  to  de- 
vote to  God,  showing  that  though  our  Saviour  has  not 
transferred  the  law  of  tithes  into  the  constitution  of  his 
church,  it  is  not  because  he  expects  less,  hut  because  the  be' 


56  HOW  IT  IS  TO  BE  DONE. 

nevolence  which  he  aims  at  awakening  legitimately  followed 
up,  would  swell  the  amount  much  beyond  this  propof 
tion. 

We  hope  to  make  it  appear,  also,  that  the  profession  of 
the  Christian  faith  virtually  involves  a  pledge  to  act  upon 
system  in  devoting  to  God  a  liberal  proportion  of  our  in- 
come, not  less  than  that  we  will  do  so  by  our  time,  our 
influence,  or  any  earthly  blessing. 

The  phrase,  devoting  money  or  earthly  treasure  to  God, 
may  require  some  explanation,  since  a  man  might  be  ir. 
dined  to  regard  every  consistent  use  of  it  as  devoting  it  in 
this  manner.  That  God  sanctions  every  such  use  there 
can  be  no  doubt ;  but  still  he  makes  a  claim  that  a  por- 
tion of  it  should  be  used  with  special  reference  to  himself, 
nor  can  this  claim  be  resisted  without  bringing  all  our 
measures  in  regard  to  money,  however  proper  in  them-t 
selves,  under  reprobation.  If  we  offend  in  this  point  we 
are  guilty  of  all. 

There  are  two  respects  in  which  worldly  property  may 
be  devoted  to  God.  First,  by  expending  it  upon  the  inter* 
ests  of  religion,  where  we  expect  for  ourselves  and  house^ 
holds,  in  common  with  others,  the  consequent  advantage. 
And  second,  by  giving  it  from  motives  of  piety  and  benevo^ 
lence  when  we  expect  no  return.  It  may  be  thus  given 
to  alleviate  physical  suffering  and  want,  to  confer  intel- 
lectual advantages,  or  to  extend  to  the  destitute,  the  igno- 
rant, the  erring,  and  the  vicious,  the  means  of  moral  and 
spiritual  improvement,  and  of  future  salvation. 

The  money  paid  to  erect  a  meeting-house,  to  support 
the  ministry,  and  to  maintain  public  worship  with  a  view 


SYSTEMATIC  CHARITY.  57 

to  our  own  advantage  with  that  of  the  parish  or  congrega* 
tion  to  which  we  belong,  though  not  a  gratuity,  partakes 
still  of  the  nature  of  an  offering  to  God,  and  if  the  motive 
be  right,  God  accepts  it  as  an  act  of  piety  and  duty  to  him- 
self. Such  offerings  under  the  Christian  economy  take 
the  place  of  those  which  were  made  upon  the  sacrifices 
and  various  rites  of  religion  in  former  dispensations.  That 
they  are  made  to  God  in  a  different  sense  from  the  money 
which  we  pay  for  the  means  of  physical  support,  we  think 
no  one  can  fail  of  discovering.  Such  offerings  therefore 
are  never  to  be  lost  sight  of  in  our  remarks  upon  the  duty 
of  devoting  earthly  treasure  to  God. 

Our  investigations,  however,  will  tend  chiefly  to  the 
settlement  of  this  principle,  that  a  man  never  does  his  duty 
in  the  use  and  pursuit  of  such  treasure,  unless  he  acts  upon 
system  in  expending  a  liberal  proportion  of  it,  without  the 
prospect  of  an  equivalent,  in  procuring  for  others  the  same 
advantages  which  he  needs  for  himself,  and  those  who 
have  a  natural  claim  upon  him  for  support.  Systematic 
Charity  or  beneficence  in  the  use  of  money  is  the  point 
which  we  would  keep  continually  in  view.  This  is  the 
burden  of  our  argument — This  is  the  true  philosophy  of 
benevolence. 

The  duty  of  regarding  in  all  our  plans  of  accumulation 
and  expenditure,  the  wants  and  woesof  human  nature,  and 
of  providing  gratuities  for  their  relief,  is  based  on  similar 
principles  with  that  of  supporting  ones  own  family,  being 
sustained  by  indications  in  nature  and  precepts  in  revela- 
tion altogether  as  unequivocal.  Indeed,  the  scriptures 
say  more  to  enforce  the  duty  of  giving  to  the  poor,  than 


58  POOR  IN  MIND   AND  MORALS. 

that  of  supporting  our  own  families,  not  because  the  latter 
is  less  binding,  but  because  the  former  is  more  neglected. 
The  gratuity  of  which  we  speak  does  not  consist  merely  in 
giving  food  to  prevent  a  man  from  starving,  or  to  relieve 
other  necessities  that  may  chance  to  fall  under  our  obser- 
vation, but  in  regularly  paying  a  portion  of  our  income  to 
procure  for  those  who  need  the  same  physical,  intellectual 
and  moral  advantages  which  are  necessary  to  ourselves* 
Moral  and  intellectual  destitution  is  not  only  more  com- 
mon, but  vastly  more  appalling  than  that  which  consists  in 
a  paucity  of  this  world's  goods.  More  than  eight-tenths  of 
the  human  family  are  at  this  moment  groping  their  way  to 
eternity,  without  the  means  of  rising  to  the  true  dignity  of 
man,  or  to  the  consistent  hope  of  unending  life.  Though 
surrounded  by  tropical  exuberance,  and  treading  upon 
a  soil  pregnant  with  gems  and  gold,  still,  they  are  suffer- 
ing a  poverty  more  to  be  dreaded  than  the  absence  of 
every  earthly  good.  Immortal  souls,  in  ignorance  of  what 
is  most  important  to  be  known,  moral  natures  in  ruin  with- 
out the  means  of  recovery,  with  no  Bible,  nor  Christian 
teacher,  nor  opportunity  of  learning  the  way  of  salvation, 
is  an  infinitely  more  pitiable  spectacle  than  mortal  bodies 
deprived  of  the  comforts  of  life.  Our  benefactions  there- 
fore must  have  respect  to  the  whole  of  man's  nature,  partic- 
ularly to  its  indestructible  elements,  or  they  will  be  defi- 
cient in  a  most  material  point. 

Nor  are  we  to  wait  till  every  other  provision  is  made 
before  this  is  allowed  to  come  into  view  ;  but  our  gratuity 
for  the  wants  and  woes  of  humaa  nature  should  stand 
upon  a  level  with  the  supply  of  our  own  wants  and  those 


CHARITY  IN  DESIGN. — MR.  W. 59 

of  our  families.  Unless  we  give  it  place  before  embellish- 
ment and  luxury,  or  even  before  providing  capital  against 
future  use  or  need,  we  depart  from  our  duty  as  much  as  if 
we  should  depnve  our  families  of  the  necessaries  of  life,  that 
we  might  hoard  money  or  live  sumptuously  ourselves. 
The  benevolence  of  too  many  exists  only  in  anticipation, 
and  never  in  reality.  They  have  so  many  selfish  interests 
to  serve,  that,  though  they  acknowledge  the  obligation,  yet 
they  never  get  ready  to  serve  God  and  their  generation  in 
the  use  of  their  money. 

The  course  pursued  by  a  former  acquaintance  of 
mine  is  that  in  which  thousands  are  now  treading,  and  I 
fear  that  the  termination  may  be  equally  sad  and  awful. 

I  allude  to  a  Mr.  W.  in  the  town  of who  was 

a  carpenter  there,  for  some  years  doing  a  prosperous  bu- 
siness, and  rising  to  wealth  as  rapidly  as  the  proceeds  of 
his  industry  would  allow.  He  had  acquired,  at  my  first 
acquaintance  with  him,  a  considerable  property,  but  was 
one  of  those  men  who  provide  a  place  for  every  cent  be- 
fore it  is  earned,  where  it  will  go  to  swell  the  amount  of 
their  hoarded  stores.  Hence,  when  any  thing  in  the 
shape  of  a  religious  offering  was  proposed,  though  no  man 
was  more  forward  to  approve  the  measure  than  he,  none 
was  more  backward  to  give  ;  because  he  said  his  affairs 
were  straitened,  he  owed  money,  and  he  should  be  doing 
injustice  to  his  creditors  as  well  as  his  own  family  by  giv- 
ing it  away.  Whenever  he  did  give  any  thing,  his  feel- 
ings were  so  little  attuned  to  the  business,  that  he  would 
ever  afler  remember  it  as  so  much  taken  from  his  property, 
and  it  would  be  a  source  of  secret  vexation  to  him.     Still, 


60  HIS  DESIGN  FAILS. 

he  was  apt  to  speak  of  the  pleasure  he  should  feel  in  being 
liberal  if  he  were  only  able,  and  would  sometimes  propose 
his  services  as  a  solicitor  to  show  his  good  will,  and  to  make 
up  his  part  in  this  way.  He  would  comfort  himself  when- 
ever his  conscience  accused  him  of  covetousness,  by  think* 
ing  how  much  good  he  would  do  when  he  arrived  to  a 
certain  pitch  of  affluence,  or  by  forming  resolutions  of 
leaving  liberal  bequests  at  his  death  to  benevolent  objects. 
"When  I  last  saw  him  he  was  reduced  to  a  mere  skeleton, 
from  no  other  cause  than  his  hard  drudgery  in  the  world's 
service ;  but  still  was  adding  house  to  house,  and  field  to 
field,  with  even  greater  eagerness  than  ever.  He  spoke 
of  his  ill  health  as  an  indication  that  his  dissolution  was 
near ;  and  when  he  had  secured  the  particular  item  to  his 
estate  which  he  had  then  in  view,  he  thought  he  should 
take  a  little  rest.  Nothing,  he  said,  reconciled  him  to  his 
hard  labor,  but  the  hope  of  having  still  more  to  leave  for  be- 
nevolence at  his  death.  Thus,  the  deluded  man  mistook 
the  most  confirmed  covetousness  for  a  wish  to  get  money  to 
do  good  with,  and  in  this  way  quelled  the  fears  that  would 
otherwise  have  been  excited  by  the  prospect  of  approach- 
ing  dissolution.  But  the  consummation  of  his  benevolent 
designs  was  never  realized  ;  on  the  contrary, 

"  The  wreath  he  won  drew  down  an  instant  curse," 
the  poor  man  died  without  will,  his  wife  married  a  miser- 
able vagabond  who  squandered  her  portion  of  his  property, 
and  his  children  becoming  intemperate,  converted  theirs 
into  the  means  of  their  own  destruction.     Alas,  I  exclaim* 

whenever  I  pass  his  grave,  poor  W ,  could  you  from 

this  point  have  formed  your  plans  of  life,  instead  of  wait- 


PIOUS   ECONOMY.  61 

ing  to  do  good  with  your  money,  you  would  have  done  it 
as  you  went  along. 

Not  only  should  we  place  our  pious  gratuity  upon  a 
level  with  the  supply  of  our  daily  wants,  and  provide  for 
it  as  regularly  ;  but  the  increase  of  its  amount  as  far  as 
possible,  should  be  a  continual  motive  to  economy  in  the 
use  of  our  income.  We  practice  economy  with  a  view  of 
increasing  our  capital,  of  multiplying  our  means  of  per- 
sonal comfort,  and  of  leaving  a  patrimony  in  the  hands  of 
our  children.  Why  therefore  should  we  not  do  it  with 
the  view  of  being  able  to  place  more  in  the  coffers  of  be- 
nevolence ?  Is  not  the  doing  of  good  to  the  bodies  and 
souls  of  men,  the  supply  of  six  or  seven  hundred  millions 
of  immortal  beings  with  the  only  means  of  salvation,  and 
the  general  alleviation  of  human  wo,  an  object  as  worthy 
of  economy  in  the  use  of  money  and  of  effort  to  acquire 
it,  as  any  other  upon  which  we  can  lay  it  out  ?  Perhaps 
we  cannot  give  a  better  view  of  the  course  which  we 
ought  to  pursue  in  the  use  of  money,  than  by  introducing 
the  following  narrative,  presented  by  special  request  in  a 
meeting  where  this  subject  was  under  discussion,  by  a 
church  member  in  moderate  circumstances,  of  the  name 
of  G n. 

*  You  know  my  friends,'  said  he,  *that  I  am  a  poor 
man.  Fifty  acres  of  land  is  all  I  have  from  which  to  sup- 
port myself,  wife,  and  six  children.  For  fifteen  years 
after  I  professed  religion,  I  thought  myself  perfectly  ex- 
cused in  giving  nothing  to  religious  objects,  and  I  believe 
others  thought  so  too  for  they  never  called  on  me  for  any- 
thing.    I  was  in  debt,  could  hardly  bring  the  two  ends  of 

6 


62  NARRATIVE  OF  G — N. 

the  year  together,  my  family  was  poorly  provided  for, 
and  we  were  even  in  the  habit  of  receiving  occasional  do- 
nations from  our  neighbors.  Being  about  five  years  since 
at  a  neighbor's,  a  lady  called  to  ask  assistance  for  a  poor 
family,  who  had  been  burnt  out  and  lost  two  children  in 
the  fire. 

'  I  was  so  much  affected  by  what  I  heard,  that  to  be 
able  to  give  something  for  their  relief,  seemed  to  me  would 
be  an  inexpressible  gratification.  I  had  in  my  pocket  a 
piece  of  silver  of  small  value — it  was  all  the  money  I  had 
in  the  world,  but  still,  ere  I  was  aware,  my  fingers  were 
upon  it,  and  I  involuntarily  handed  it  to  the  lady.  On  my 
way  home,  I  reflected  upon  myself,  thought  my  family 
needed  this  money  at  that  moment,  to  buy  necessaries 
with,  and  [Hhey  did  not,  it  was  the  property  of  my  credit- 
ors, and  I  ought  not  to  have  given  it  away.  It  disturbed 
my  mind  so  muc'.i,  that  I  went  and  spread  the  case  before 
God  in  prayer.  While  thus  engaged,  the  words  of  our 
Saviour  occuried  to  my  mind  ;  Give  to  him  that  asketh 
thee,  and  from  him  that  would  borrow  of  thee,  turn  not 
thou  away.  My  faith  found  here,  a  support  for  itself 
and  I  rejoiced  that  our  Saviour  did  not  single  out  the  rich 
from  the  poor,  as  under  obligation  to  observe  this  precept, 
but  addressed  it  alike  to  all.  Satisfied  that  I  had  done  no 
wrong,  I  was  willing  to  leave  the  result  with  God,  and 
bent  my  thoughts  to  see  how  I  could  repair  my  loss,  and 
allow  myself  the  gratification  of  doing  good  in  this  way, 
on  future  occasions.  I  soon  discovered  that  in  the  man- 
ner both  of  purchasing  and  using  articles  of  consumption 
in  my  family,  I  might  practice  greater  economy  than  I 


NARRATIVE    OF    G — N.  63 

had  been  accustomed  to.  By  buying  every  thing  on 
credit,  I  had  subjected  myself  to  the  double  loss  of  giving 
more  for  articles,  and  of  paying  interest  on  the  money  they 
cost.  After  all  they  must  be  paid  for  ;  and  hence,  by  con- 
triving to  pay  when  I  got  them,  I  should  make  a  saving. 
And  it  was  only  by  exercising  great  care  and  self-denial 
the  first  year,  that  we  succeeded  to  revolutionize  these  old 
habits ;  but  when  it  was  done,  it  cut  off  no  small  item  of 
useless  expense.  I  found  also,  that  there  were  several 
articles  of  previous  consumption,  such  as  a  number  of 
gallons  of  ardent  spirits,  and  as  many  pounds  of  tobacco, 
which  we  could  give  up  altogether,  and  yet  be  better  off 
than  we  had  been  with  them.  1  contrived  also,  with  the 
assistance  of  my  wife,  who  entered  into  all  my  plans,  to 
use  what  I  purchased  much  more  economically  than  be- 
fore. Many  ways  both  of  increasing  the  comfort  of  liv- 
ing, and  of  doing  it  at  less  expense,  occurred  to  us,  that  we 
had  never  thought  of,  which  we  reduced  to  practice,  greatly 
to  the  improvement  of  our  table  and  fireside  enjoyments. 
By  these  means  we  effected  a  very  considerable  retrench- 
ment of  our  expenses. 

*  I  then  looked  over  my  farm  and  manner  of  husband- 
ing it,  to  see  if  I  could  not  increase  my  income.  By 
early  rising,  and  being  more  strict  in  training  my  sons  to 
business,  I  was  able  to  supersede  the  necessity  of  hiring  a 
man,  in  harvest.  I  kept  up  my  fences,  disburdened  my 
barn-yard  of  a  quantity  of  manure,  which  had  long  lain 
useless,  and  scattered  it  over  my  fields  greatly  to  the  im- 
provement of  the  soil,  was  punctual  to  get  my  crops  in  at 
the  proper  season,  and  to  harvest  them  before  they  were 


64  NARRATIVE    OF    G N. 

injured.  By  all  these  plans,  which  I  pursued  up  with 
diligence  the  first  year,  I  closed  the  crevices  through 
which  the  little  fountain  of  my  wealth  had  been  wasted? 
and  at  the  same  time  increased  the  stream  of  my  income  ; 
I  liquidated  my  debts,  paid  my  taxes,  supported  my  family 
better  than  before,  and  had  something  to  give  away  be- 
sides. As  God  had  prospered  me  so  far,  I  felt  it  my  duty  to 
lay  myself  out  still  further  for  his  glory,  in  cultivating  my 
little  farm.  I  therefore  set  offone  tenth  of  that  part,  which 
was  productive,  about  three  acres,  determined  to  cultivate 
it,  and  devote  the  proceeds  to  God.  From  this,  I  realized 
the  first  year,  about  one  hundred  dollars,  which  I  appro- 
priated to  various  objects  of  benevolence,  and  from  the 
rest  of  my  farm>  I  obtained  m.ore  than  ever  I  did  from  the 
whole,  in  any  one  year  before.  Since  that  time,  I  have 
enjoyed  the  luxury  of  doing  good  with  my  money,  my 
family  have  been  better  supported  than  ever,  and  blessed 
be  God,  all  my  children  have  become  hopefully  pious,  one 
of  them  is  studying  for  the  ministry,  and  my  house  has 
been  like  the  house  of  Obed-edom,  where  the  ark  rested.' 
Here  his  heart  was  too  full  to  admit  of  his  saying  more. 
Such  is  the  plan  of  living,  which  I  would  see  adopted 
throughout  this  country,  yea,  throughout  the  world  ;  and 
more  than  nine-tenths  of  the  asperities  of  the  original 
curse  will  be  abated.  And  it  appears  to  me,  that  to  in- 
duce many  to  adopt  this  mode  of  living,  it  is  only  neces- 
sary that  they  should  look  at  the  principles  of  nature  and 
scripture,  and  at  facts,  as  they  are  spread  out  before  us  in 
real  life,  and  in  the  history  of  past  ages.  Let  this  subject 
receive  as  much  prayer  and  reflection,  as  its  importance 


EXCELLENT  PLAN.  65 

demands,  let  conscience  be  brought  to  bear  upon  it,  the 
same  as  upon  other  points,  and  let  the  claims  of  God  upon 
our  wealth  acquired,  or  means  of  acquiring  it,  be  met  and 
cancelled,  even  by  the  great  body  of  Christians,  and  it  is 
impossible  to  estimate  the  consequent  benefit.  The  in- 
fluence would  extend  beyond  the  pale  of  the  church? 
statesmen  would  learn  that  mercy  is  one  of  the  great  ob- 
jects of  legislation,  a  fair  proportion  of  the  surplus 
treasures  in  the  hands  of  civilized  man,  might  perhaps  re- 
ceive a  beneficent  direction,  and  thus  more  ample  pro- 
vision be  made  to  wipe  away  the  reproach  of  human  na- 
ture, and  to  invest  it  with  its  true  dignity.  Not  only  so, 
but  the  habit  of  associating  these  claims  with  all  our 
measures  of  acquiring  and  expending  money,  would  mode- 
rate our  passion  for  it,  a  passion  which  oftener  becomes  in- 
ordinate than  any  other,  would  secure  us  against  the 
crimes  of  which  it  is  instrumental,  and  would  prepare  us 
to  enjoy  much  more  from  the  objects  of  this  world,  than 
by  any  other  course,  "  There  is  that  scattereth,  and  yet 
increaseth." 


6* 


CHAPTER   V 


Uses  of  wealth. 


The  most  of  us  will  concede  that  the  pursuit  of  earthly- 
treasure  has  engrossed  a  very  considerable  portion  of  our 
time,  talent,  and  labor,  hitherto  in  life.  But  have  we  duly- 
weighed  the  motives  that  have  impelled  us  to  this  pursuit? 
It  is  highly  inconsistent  with  our  character,  as  accounta- 
ble and  immortal  beings,  to  consume  the  greater  portion 
of  the  time  which  Heaven  has  allotted  to  us  on  earth,  to 
prepare  for  another  world,  upon  any  object,  without  in- 
quiring, wherefore  we  pursue  it,  or  what  bearing  it  may- 
be made  to  exert  upon  our  ultimate  destination  ?  Soon 
God  will  require  our  souls  of  us,  and  then,  whose  shall  those 
things  be,  which  we  have  provided  ? 

It  is  time  that  we  had  come  to  a  solemn  pause,  and 
had  asked  ourselves  wherefore  is  this  mighty  struggle  in 
which  we  are  engaged,  and  to  what  point  is  it  tending  ? 
To  what  use  can  we  convert  this  object  upon  which 
we  have  exhausted  such  a  vast  amount  of  labor,  which 
has  occupied  our  day-dreams,  and  midnight  reveries, — 
this  idol  upon  whose  altars  we  have  sacrificed  the  fairest 
portion  of  our  existence  1  What  is  that  secret — that 
powerful  impulse,  which  has  thus  wielded  the  principal 
energies  of  our  lives  ? 


68  USES    OF    WEALTH. 

First,  Is  it  the  love  of  money  as  an  absolute  principle  7 
Or,  second,  Have  we  acted  solely  with  reference  to 
the  advantages  which  we  supposed  it  capable  of  purchas- 
ing? 

When  this  point  is  decided,  then  let  us  inquire. 

Third,  have  these  advantages  been  regarded  and  pro- 

videdforj  according  to  the  respective  importance  of  each  7 

And  fourth.    If  we  have  provided  them  for  ourselves, 

and  those,  who  immediately  depend  upon  us,  have  we 

done  as  much  as  we  ought  to  procure  them  for  others  7 

1.  In  relation  to  the  first  of  these  inquiries,  I  suppose 
none  are  willing  to  believe  themselves  actuated  by  the 
love  of  money,  as  an  absolute  principle,  "  however  tena- 
cious they  may  be  of  it,  or  insatiably  grasping  at  more." 
The  name  of  miser,  or  miserable,  by  which  this  passion 
is  designated  when  it  has  no  reference  to  the  advantages 
which  its  object  is  capable  of  conferring,  sufficiently  indi- 
cates the  abhorrence,  in  which  men  agree  to  hold  it.  It 
is  a  comfortless  passion,  shorn  of  all  the  kindly  feelings, 
and  reduces  us  to  such  a  pitch  of  degradation,  that 

"  For  sordid  lucre  plunge  we  in  the  mire, 
Drudge,  sweat,  through  every  shame,  for  every  gain ; 
For  vile  contaminating  trash  throw  up 
Our  hope  in  heaven,  our  dignity  with  man, 
And  deify  the  dirt  matured  to  gold."* 

No  one,  therefore,  however  true  it  may  be,  in  fact,  is 
willing  to  acknowledge,  that  he  pursues  money  for  its  own 
sake.  '*  No  ;  the  passion  enslaves  and  befools  him  under 
secondary  and  more  plausible  forms.  He  wishes  to  have 
the  means  of  getting  his  family  advantageously  forward 

*  Young. 


USES    OF    WEALTH.  69 

in  the  world.  He  says  so,  and  thinks  so,  even  though  he 
is  unwilling  to  do  any  thing  for  them  at  present.  It  is  de- 
sirable to  have  the  means  of  maintaining  a  respectable 
station  in  society.  It  is  gratifying  to  be  looked  up  to, 
with  the  deference  universally  shown  to  wealth.  Perhaps 
he  has  had  experience  ofstraitened  circumstances  in  early 
life,  and  cannot  make  too  sure  against  its  recurrence. 
There  is  much  liability  to  hazards,  and  losses ;  and  it  is 
prudent  to  be  well  provided.  It  would  be  a  miserable 
thing  to  suffer  penury  in  old  age."*  Such  are  the  pleas, 
under  which  a  miserly  disposition  hides  itself,  and  keeps 
the  man  who  cherishes  it,  in  countenance  with  himself. 
Be  not  too  sure,  reader,  that  this  poisonous  principle  has 
had  nothing  to  do  with  your  pursuit  of  money.  It  ope- 
rates much  as  certain  serpents  are  fabled  to  do,  which 
charm  their  victim,  so  that  after  flying  round  and  round, 
unconscious  of  its  danger,  it  rushes  into  the  coil  of  the 
destroyer,  and  is  pierced  by  his  fangs.  Thus,  the  viper 
of  avarice,  unless  you  are  cautious,  will  infuse  his  venom 
into  your  blood,  and  you  will  be  beyond  the  possibility  of 
a  cure.  A  miser  is  formed  by  the  maturity  of  those  pas- 
sions which  have  already  begun  their  growth  in  your 
heart. 

2.  We  would  all,  doubtless,  prefer  to  believe  that  we 
have  been  wholly  influenced  by  a  regard  to  the  advan- 
tages  which  wealth  confers  upon  its  possessor.  And 
this  is  unquestionably  the  more  general  motive  that  influ- 
ences men  in  the  pursuit  of  it,  and  is  never  lost  sight  of 

*  Foster. 


70  USES   OF   WEALTH. 

except  in  those  extreme  cases,  in  which  avarice  has 
grown  into  a  species  of  insanity.  Taking  it  for  granted, 
therefore,  that  such  is  our  motive,  we  will  subjoin  this 
caution,  let  us  be  sure  and  restrict  our  passion  within  the 
limits  of  the  actual  ability  of  its  object  to  confer  good.  Its 
utility  or  power  of  conferring  good  being  the  only  basis  of 
its  value,  as  it  must  of  necessity  measure  and  define  the 
extent  of  that  value,  ought  also  to  be  the  exact  measure 
of  our  passion  for  it.  Whenever  our  passion  becomes 
more  intense  than  the  value  or  utility  of  earthly  treasure 
will  justify,  it  will  be  followed  by  a  counteraction  pro- 
portioned to  that  excess,  and  thus  the  thing  which  we  so 
much  desired,  and  which,  when  kept  in  due  bounds  is  cal- 
culated to  be  so  useful,  will  become  to  us  a  source  of  vexa- 
tious disappointment.  It  is  owing  to  this,  that  so  many 
pine  in  the  midst  of  abundance,  or  terminate  even  in  a 
successful  business  career  in  misery  and  suicide. 

The  feelings  of  one  who  has  been  the  victim  of  this 
excess  are  exquisitely  painted  in  the  following  lines,  by 
Dr.  Leyden,  supposed  to  be  the  address  of  a  disappointed 
man  to  an  Indian  gold  coin;  and  which  I  introduce,  partly 
because  they  contain  a  more  graphic  painting  of  the  fea- 
ture of  human  nature  to  which  we  allude,  than  any  I  could 
give,  and  partly  because  they  will  furnish  a  clue  to  a  few 
reflections  on  the  subject  that  may  be  profitable. 

''  Slave  of  the  dark  and  dirty  mine  ! 

What  vanity  has  brought  thee  here? 
How  can  I  love  to  see  tdee  shine 

So  bright,  whom  I  have  bought  so  dear 7— 

The  tent-ropes  flapping  lone  J  hear, 
Tor  twilight  converse  arm  in  arm  ; 

The  jackall's  shriek  bursts  on  my  ear, 
When  mirth  and  music  wont  to  charm— 


USES  OF  WfiALTIf.  71 

By  Cherical's  dark  wandering  streams, 

Wherj  cane- tufts  shadow  all  the  wild; 
Sweet  visions  haunt  my  wakmg  dreams, 

Of  Teviot  lov'd  while  still  a  child. 

Ofcastl'd  rocks  stupendous  pd'd 
By  Esk  or  Eden's  classic  wave  ; 

Where  loves  of  youth  and  friendship  smiled, 
Uncursed  by  thee,  vile  yellow  slave  ! 

Fade,  day-dreams  sweet,  from  memory  fade ! — 

The  perished  bliss  of  youth's  first  prime, 
That  once  so  bright  on  fancy  play'd, 

Revives  no  more  in  after- time. 

Far  from  my  sacred  natal  clime, 
I  haste  to  an  untimely  grave ; 

The  daring  thoughts  that  soared  sublime 
Are  sunk  in  ocean's  southern  wave. 

Slave  of  the  mine !  thy  yellow  light, 

Gleams  baleful  as  the  tomb-fire  drear ; 
A  gentle  vision  comes  by  night, 

My  lonely,  widowed  heart  to  cheer. 

Her  eyes  are  dim  with  many  a  tear, 
That  once  were  guiding  stars  to  mine ; 

Her  fond  heart  throbs  with  many  a  fear; 
I  cannot  bear  to  see  thee  shine. 

For  thee,  for  thee,  vile  yellow  slave, 

I  lelt  a  heart  that  loved  me  true  ; 
I  crossed  the  tedious  ocean- wave. 

To  roam  in  climes  unkind  and  new. 

The  cold  wind  of  the  stranger  blew 
Chill  on  my  withered  heart : — the  grave. 

Dark  and  untimely  met  my  view. 
And  all  for  thee,  vile  yellow  slave. 

Ha !  com'st  thou  now  so  late  to  mock, 
A  wanderer's  banish'd  heart  forlorn  ; 

Now  that  his  frame  the  lightning  shock. 
Of  sun-rays  tipt  with  death,  has  borne  1 
From  love,  from  friendship,  country  torn, 

To  memory's  fond  regrets  the  prey  ; 
Vile  slave,  thy  yellow  dross  I  scorn  ; 

Go,  mix  thee  with  thy  kindred  clay."* 

Now,  these  feelings  are  not  produced  by  the  bare  fact 
of  visiting  foreign  climes  for  lucre  ;  but  by  doing  it  under 

*  Extracted  from  Lacon. 


72  USES    OF    WEALTH. 

the  influence  of  an  excessive  passion  for  the  object.    And 
that  passion  once  cherished,  will  be  sure  to  produce  results 
ultimately  prejudicial  to  our  happiness,  whether  it  finds 
vent  for  itself  in  the  fruitless  regrets  of  an  exile  fronn  the 
endearments  of  earlier  years,  or  in  other  forms  of  wo 
that  may  spring  up  in  the  midst  of  those  endearments. 
Being  an  effect  solely  of  the  excess  of  the  passion,  where- 
ever  the  cause  exists,  they  will  show  themselves.      It 
would  annihilate  commerce,  and  undermine  some  of  the 
more  important  interests  of  the  human  condition,  if  the 
misery  depicted  in  the  foregoing  lines  were  the  necessary 
result  of  sailing  over  Indian  seas  in  quest  of  gain.    Com. 
merce  has  already  done  much  to  improve  the  civil,  intel- 
lectual, and  moral,  as  well  as  the  physical  condition  of  the 
world,  and  is  destined  to  occupy  a  prominent  place  among 
the  means  of  accomplishing  the  benevolent  designs  of 
heaven  to  our  race.     And  a  man  may  embark  in  foreign 
enterprise,  may  encounter  the  tedious  ocean-wave,  may 
hear  the  tent-ropes  flapping  in  the  desert-breeze,  and  the 
dismal  shrieks  of  the  jackal,  may  feel  the  cold  winds  of  the 
stranger  ;  all,  in  quest  of  gain  too,  without  having  occa- 
sion to  regret  the  pursuit,  or  to  sigh  for  forsaken  scenes 
provided  only  his  passion  for  the  object  is  restricted  within 
the  limits  of  its  actual  power  of  conferring  good,  and  is 
accompanied  by  a  settled  purpose  of  employing  what  he 
acquires  for  the  glory  of  God  and  the  benefit  of  mankind. 
Every  thing  depends  upon  the  motives  and  feelings  under 
which  a  man  acts  in  the  pursuit  of  wealth,  and  the  use  he 
makes  of  it  when  obtained,  in  regard  to  the  happiness  or 
misery  of  which  it  is  instrumental  to  himself.    How  ought 


USES  OF   WEALTH.  73 

these  considerations,  therefore,  to  moderate  a  passion* 
which  is  ever  liable  to  beconne  excessive  to  the  infinite 
ioischief  of  him  in  whom  it  exists  ! 

3.  The  next  question  is,  whether  the  different  kinds  of 
good  which  our  worldly  resources  enable  us  to  purchase, 
have  been  duly  regarded  and  provided  for,  according  to 
the  respective  importance  of  each?    As  we  have  intimated, 
the  value  of  money  is  not  intrinsic  and  absolute,  but  rela- 
tive. Its  value  arises  wholly  from,  and  is  in  proportion  to, 
the  amount  of  good,  physical,  intellectual,  and  moral,  which 
it  enables  us  to  purchase.     "  To  create  objects  that  have 
any  kind  of  utility,  is  to  create  wealth  ;  for  the  utility  of 
things  is  the  ground-work  of  their  value."*  The  parched 
and  famished  traveller  on  an  African  desert,  who  found 
nothing  but  gold  in  the  bag  from  which  he  expected  bread 
and  wine,  realized  the  force  of  this  truth.     Gold,  under 
those  circumstances,  had  no  value  to  him,  because  it  could 
procure  him  no  good.  Hence,  that  man  makes  his  money 
the  most  valuable,  who  contrives  to  purchase  with  it  the 
greatest  amount  of  positive  good.  A  little  that  a  righteous 
man  hath,  on  this  principle,  is  better  than  the  riches  of 
many  wicked  :    and  wealth  is  turned  to  the  best  account 
when  it  is  assigned  its  proper  place  in  the  affections,  when 
it  is  forced  into  human  service,  and  is  distributed  among 
the  various  objects  upon  which  it  ought  to  be  laid  out,  in 
due  proportion  to  their  respective  value. 

To  enable  the  reader  to  judge  whether  he  has  distri- 
buted  his  money  in  this  manner,  or  is  in  the  way  of  doing 
it,  let  us  contemplate  these  objects  separately,  and  as  we 

♦  Say's  Political  Economy  ;  Am.  ed.  p.  66. 

7 


74  TJSES   OP   WEALTH* 

pass  along,  he  may  be  able  by  looking  over  his  pecuniary 
transactions,  from  first  to  last,  to  form  a  tolerable  estimate 
of  the  proportionate  value  which  he  has  attached  to 
eachi 

These  objects  are,  1.  The  means  of  support :  2.  Of 
intellectual  and  moral  improvement :  3.  Provision  for  fU' 
ture  use  and  necessity  :  4.  The  embellishments  and  luxa* 
ties  of  life  :  and,  5.  The  favorable  regards  of  society, 

1.  The  means  of  support  include  a  provision  for  our 
bodily  wants.  To  keep  the  wheels  of  life  in  motion,  we 
must  have  a  regular  supply  of  food,  of  raiment,  of  medi- 
cines, when  we  are  sick,  of  heat  to  prepare  our  food  and 
keep  us  warm  when  it  is  cold,  of  skilful  helpers  when  we 
are  unable  to  help  ourselves ;  and  of  the  various  other 
things  included  in  the  list  of  man's  physical  necessities. 
And  God  has  placed  us  under  such  laws,  that  these  things 
cannot  be  obtained  without  our  own  exertions,  or  those  of 
others,  in  procuring  them  for  us.  And  as  money  contains 
a  representative  value  of  the  means  of  subsistence,  it  may 
for  this  reason  be  pursued ;  and  when  obtained,  it  should  be 
one  of  the  first  objects  to  provide  ourselves  with  these,  un- 
less we  are  already  supplied  by  a  direct  application  to 
those  sources  in  nature,  from  which  they  may  be  obtained. 
A  bare  subsistence,  however,  though  first  in  the  list  of  in- 
ducements  to  pursue  property,  or  for  laboring  to  invest 
matter  with  utility,  is  really,  less  thought  of  by  most  than 
any  other,  and  is,  in  fact,  but  a  small  item  compared  with 
the  resources  in  the  hands  of  civilized  man.  We  have 
all  doubtless  given  this  item  its  due  place  in  our  plans  of 
expenditure. 


USES   OF    WEALTH.  75 

2.  In  addition  to  our  physical  are  our  intellectual  and 
moral  wants.  We  are  not  naturally  endowed  with  the 
blessings  of  knowledge,  or  the  resources  of  intellect,  but 
have  them  to  acquire  by  mental  exertion,  in  connection  with 
the  aid  of  books,  living  instructors,  travelling,  experi- 
ments, philosophical  implements,  and  other  means  neces- 
sary to  assist  the  mind  in  the  pursuit  of  its  object.  And 
do  not  all  these  things  have  a  cash  value  as  much  as  food 
or  raiment  ? 

The  same  may  be  said  of  the  means  of  moral  cultiva- 
tion.  The  latter,  however,  is  more  difficult  to  be 
perceived  than  the  former ;  for  there  is  a  general  im- 
pression, that  as  grace  is  free,  and  salvation  without 
money  and  without  price,  our  religious  teachers  ought 
to  impart  their  instructions  free  of  charge.  Hence,  not  a 
few  regard  all  they  pay  to  the  ministers  of  religion  as  a 
mere  gratuity.  Urge  upon  them  the  duty  of  lending  to 
the  Lord,  and  they  will  tell  you  that  they  do  it  already, 
being  in  the  habit  of  giving  thus  and  so  for  the  support  of 
religion  in  their  own  town.  If,  therefore,  those  calls  for 
their  money  which  they  consider  indispensable  are  nu- 
merous, and  any  misfortune  has  cut  short  a  part  of  their 
ordinary  income,  the  first  point  on  which  they  think  of 
retrenchment  is  to  give  less,  or  none  at  all  to  the  minister- 
Now,  this  is  one  of  the  most  singular  perversions  of  which 
one  can  well  conceive.  The  truth  is,  what  a  man  pays  to 
procure  for  himself  and  household,  the  means  of  moral  in- 
struction, or  to  promote  religion  in  his  own  town,  is  no 
more  a  charity  than  what  he  pays  to  establish  schools  for 
the  benefit  of  his  own  children.     And  the  latter  might 


76  USES   OF   WEALTH. 

with  equal  propriety,  be  considered  as  a  sacrifice  upon  the 
altar  of  beneficence,  as  the  former.  From  what  prin- 
ciple in  nature,  or  from  what  passage  in  revelation, 
do  we  derive  the  notion,  that  moral  instruction  has  not  a 
cash  value  ?  Is  it  not  as  important  an  element  in  the 
civil  and  social  condition  of  man,  and  in  the  management 
of  his  affairs,  even  as  an  inhabitant  of  the  physical  world, 
as  any  other  ?  Have  we  not  a  moral  nature  that  needs 
cultivation,  as  well  as  a  physical  ?  And  does  not  success 
in  the  management  of  our  daily  concerns,  in  promoting 
domestic  enjoyments,  in  preserving  the  peace  of  communi- 
ties, in  the  establishment  and  right  direction  of  govern- 
ments, and  in  every  thing  necessary  to  man  as  an  in* 
habitant  of  this  world,  as  well  as  the  expectant  of  another, 
imperiously  require  that  kind  of  cultivation  of  his  moral 
nature  which  religion  aims  at  accomplishing  ?  No  educa- 
tion is  complete  from  which  the  passions,  moral  sense, 
and  religious  hopes  are  excluded.  Such  being  the  fact, 
how  are  we  to  expect  that  an  order  of  men  will  devote 
their  lives  to  imparting  moral  and  religious  instruction, 
without  being  entitled  to  a  physical  compensation  in  some 
degree  proportioned  to  the  value  of  their  services? 
"  Whenever"  observes  the  political  economist,  "  the  in- 
tervention of  a  superhuman  power  appears  necessary  to 
ensure  the  good  conduct  of  mankind  in  their  natural  rela- 
tions, those  who  assume  to  be  the  interpreters  of  that  power 
must  be  paid  for  their  services.  If  their  labor  be  useful, 
its  utility  is  an  immaterial  product,  which  has  a  real 
value." 

Such  is  the  voice  of  reason  ;  and  revelation  speaks 


TISES    OF   WEALTH.  77 

the  same  language.  Our  Saviour,  when  he  sent  out  his 
apostles,  directed  thenn  to  take  nothing  with  them,  but  to 
live  upon  those  for  whom  they  labored,  for  this  important 
reason  that,  the  laborer  is  worthy  of  his  reward.  The 
apostle  also,  by  inquiring  of  the  Corinthian  church, 
Have  we  not  power  to  eat  and  drink?  intended  to  affirm 
that  they  had  power  to  demand  pecuniary  compensation 
for  their  labors.  To  the  same  purpose  also  are  the 
following  interrogatories.  Who  goeth  a  warfare  any  time 
at  his  own  charges?  Who  planteth  a  vineyard  and 
eateth  not  of  the  fruit  thereof  ?  Or  who  feedeth  a  flock, 
and  eateth  not  of  the  milk  of  the  flock?  Then,  after 
showing  that  the  command  not  to  muzzle  the  mouth  of  the 
ox  that  treadeth  out  the  corn,  was  given  in  behalf  of 
Christian  ministers,  and  that  it  is  the  privilege  of  those 
who  wait  at  the  altar,  to  be  partaker  with  the  altar,  he 
lays  down  this  position  and  explicit  principle — even  so  hath 
the  Lord  ordained  that  they  which  preach  the  gospel, 
should  live  of  the  gospel.*  Hence,  all  that  a  man  pays  to 
procure  for  himself  and  household,  the  accommodations  of 
public  worship,  or  religious  instruction,  such  as  his  con- 
tributions for  the  erection  of  a  meeting-house  in  his  own 
town,  with  its  fixtures,  to  support  his  minister ;  together 
with  what  he  pays  for  bibles  and  other  l^ooks  of  religion 
to  be  used  in  his  own  family,  must  be  wholly  stricken 
from  the  list  of  his  charities,  and  set  to  the  account  of  his 
debt. 

It  is  for  you  to  determine,  reader,  whether  in  the  ex- 
penditure of  your  income,  you  have  shown  a  proper  care 
♦  1  Cor.  9,  1—14. 
7* 


?9  rSES    OF   WEALTH. 

to  procure  religious  instruction,  or  to  pay  its  value  when 
obtained.  The  apostle  set  so  high  a  price  upon  this  kind 
of  property,  that  he  intimated  to  Philemon,  whom  he  had 
taught  the  truths  of  Christianity,  that  he  was  not  only 
under  obligation  to  grant  his  request  in  reference  to  his 
former  servant  Onesimus,  but  he  adds;  Albeit  I  do  not 
say  to  thee  how  thou  owesl  unto  me  even  thine  ownself 
besides.*  So  far  from  having  performed  charity  in  this 
way,  it  is  to  be  feared  that  there  are  long  arrears  of  debt 
against  you ;  and  if  the  hire  of  the  laborers  who  have 
reaped  down  your  fields,  does  not  cry  against  you,  perhaps 
that  of  those  who  have  wrought  in  the  spiritual  harvest, 
has  entered  into  the  ears  of  the  Lord  of  Sabaoth,  de. 
manding  instant  redress.  Have  you  assigned  to  intellect- 
ual and  moral  advantages,  the  place  you  ought  in  the 
expenditure  of  your  income? 

3.  It  is  doubtless  proper  that  we  should,  if  possible,  lay 
up  in  store  a  portion  of  our  income  for  future  use  and  ne- 
cessiiy.  A  variety  of  considerations  show  that  the  desire 
of  accumulation  moderately  indulged,  is  not  only  proper, 
but  necessary,  to  the  great  interests  of  human  society. 
Without  capital  how  could  the  wheels  of  business  be  kept 
in  motion,  or  the  poor  find  means  of  earning  a  subsistence  ? 
Capital  is  as  necessary  to  the  production  of  things  valua- 
ble, as  natural  agents  or  the  industry  of  man.  What  could 
workmen  do  without  tools,  without  being  previously  provi' 
ded  with  the  means  of  subsistence,  and  without  the  raw 
materials  of  their  business  ?  Furthermore,  no  man  can 
be  certain  that  he  shall  not  be  disabled  many  years  be- 
fore his  death,  so  as  to  be  incapable  of  creating  an  income 

♦  Philemon  19. 


USES  OF  WEALTH.  79 

by  his  exertions ;  and  in  that  case  he  would  be  dependent 
on  others,  unless  he  had  provided  for  such  an  emergency 
by  laying  up  in  store  a  portion  of  what  he  earned,  when 
his  faculties  were  entire.  "  Common  prudence  would 
counsel,"  says  an  acute  writer  on  this  subject,  "  to  provide 
against  casualties.  Who  can  say  with  certainty,  that  his 
income  will  not  fall  off,  or  that  his  fortune  is  exempt  from 
the  injustice,  the  fraud,  or  the  violence  of  mankind  ?  Lands 
may  be  confiscated  ;  ships  may  be  wrecked ;  litigation 
may  involve  him  in  expenses  and  uncertainties.  The 
richest  merchant  is  liable  to  be  ruined  by  one  unlucky  spe- 
culation, or  by  the  failure  of  others.  Were  he  to  spend  his 
whole  income,  his  capital  might,  in  all  probability  would, 
be  continually  on  the  decline." 

Moreover,  money  is  productive ;  and  hence,  when  a 
man  has  it  to  a  certain  extent,  he  can  live  upon  its  nett 
proceeds,  devoting  himself  to  intellectual  pursuits,  to  travel- 
ling, to  direct  labors  of  beneficence,  or  any  other  course 
to  which  his  inclination  may  impel  him.  I  shall  not  say 
that  the  desire  of  accumulation  for  such  an  object  would 
contravene  any  principle  of  duty,  provided  it  were  kept  in 
due  subordination.  But  it  is  useless  for  me  to  enumerate 
the  reasons  that  should  lead  us  to  expend  a  part  of  our 
income,  (provided  we  can  do  it  without  refusing  an  indis- 
pensable call)  upon  a  provision  for  future  use  and  need  ; 
for  I  suppose  we  are  already  inclined  in  a  sufficient  de- 
gree to  make  such  a  disposition  of  it.  Indeed,  has  not  this 
engrossed  our  chief  attention  ?  That  it  is  really  inferior 
to  those  objects  which  we  have  previously  noticed,  must 
be  admitted.     Why,  therefore,  should  religion  and  intelli- 


80  TISES  OF  WEALTH. 

gence,  or  even  a  competent  supply  of  our  wants,  be  thought 
so  much  less  of,  in  our  schemes  to  make  money,  than  that 
of  hoarding  it  for  a  future  occasion,  when  death  may  per- 
haps lurk  between  us  and  that  occasion,  to  dissipate  our 
golden-dreams  of  blessedness.  Alas,  it  is  to  be  feared 
that  this  object  has  received  a  very  disproportionate  atten- 
tion with  most,  in  their  schemes  of  acquisition  and  expen- 
diture ! 

4.  Earthly  treasure  is  also  valuable  as  a  means  of 
procuring  the  embellishments  and  luxuries  of  life. 

We  use  these  terms  for  the  want  of  better.  If  our 
meaning,  however,  is  understood  it  is  sufficient.  We  sup- 
pose that  in  dress,  furniture,  education  of  children,  style  of 
architecture,  and  other  things,  persons  who  are  able  may 
indulge  themselves  somewhat  beyond  a  bare  conve- 
nience. A  provision  may  be  made  to  some  extent  for  the 
mere  purpose  of  pleasing  the  eye,  the  ear,  and  to  gratify 
a  refined  taste.  This  provision  we  call  embellishment. 
In  hke  manner  the  appetites  may  be  indulged  some- 
what beyond  what  would  be  palatable  and  nourishing. 
Some  provision  may  be  made  for  the  mere  purpose  of 
gratification.     This  we  call  luxury. 

When  this  provision  in  either  case  is  carried  be- 
yond certain  limits,  it  degenerates  into  extravagance. 
Apart  from  all  considerations  of  piety,  nature  teaches  that 
this  provision  should  always  be  moderate.  When  it  is 
otherwise  it  brings  more  pain  than  pleasure. 

If  persons,  from  motives  of  piety,  and  that  they  may 
have  the  more  time  and  means  of  doing  good,  forego  all 
beyond  a  comfortable  provision,  we  think  it  highly  merito- 


USES  OF  WEALTH.  81 

rious  and  praiseworthy.  The  reasons  spread  out  before 
a  pious  mind  for  such  acts  of  self-denial,  are  numerous 
and  weighty. 

Still,  by  giving  us  a  taste  for  embellishment  and  lux- 
ury, as  well  as  by  providing  the  means  of  its  gratification^ 
God  clearly  shows  that  it  is  his  pleasure  to  indulge  us  with 
the  good  things  of  this  world,  to  an  extent  somewhat  be- 
yond the  limit  of  our  real  wants.  The  earth  might  be  strip- 
ped of  the  garnishing  of  its  flowers,  of  the  greenness  of  its 
foliage,  of  the  music  of  its  birds,  and  of  its  ten  thousand 
other  beauties  and  sublimities;  it  might  spare  its  spicy 
groves,  its  delicious  fruits,  and  its  profusion  of  luxuries,  and 
yet  retain  all  the  means  of  subsistence  to  its  inhabitants. 
But,  having  furnished  us  with  a  fondness  for  these  things, 
God  meets  the  consequent  demand,  and  around  we  see 

"  Hill,  dale,  and  shady  woods,  and  sunny  plains, 
And  liquid  lapse  of  murm'ring  streams,  by  these, 
Creatures  that  live  and  move,  and  walk  and  fly — 
Birds  on  the  branches  warbling ;  all  things  smile, 
With  fragrance  and  with  joy  man's  heart  o'erfiows."* 

It  should  be  considered,  however,  that  as  sin  has  de- 
prived the  world  of  much  of  its  original  garnishing,  and 
doomed  its  inhabitants  to  innumerable  miseries,  it  is  rather 
suitable  to  us  in  our  present  situation,  to  wear  the  gar- 
ments of  humiliation  than  those  of  joy  and  gladness.  This 
circumstance,  as  well  as  the  continual  scenes  of  sickness, 
poverty,  ignorance,  vice,  and  death,  through  which  we 
pass  to  the  tomb,  should  suggest  to  us  the  propriety  of 
valuing  our  money  less  for  the  elegancies  and  luxuries 
which  it  enables  us  to  purchase,  than  the  ability  which  it 

*  Milton. 


82  USES  OP  WEALTH. 

affords  ofdolng  good.  "An  act  of  beneficence,  that  trench- 
es on  the  personal  enjoyments  of  the  benefactor  is  deserv- 
ing of  the  highest  praise."  It  is  a  great  misfortune,  be- 
sides involving  deep  criminality,  that  the  amount  expend- 
ed upon  embellishment  and  luxury  is  so  much  greater 
than  what  is  laid  out  upon  the  wants  and  woes  of  hu- 
man nature.  A  moiety  of  what  is  wasted  upon  the 
former  objects  would  not  only  give  the  whole  world  a 
competent  support,  but  would  enable  them  to  indulge  mod- 
erately in  embellishment  and  luxury.  **  The  man  of 
wealth  and  ostentation  squanders  upon  costly  trinkets, 
sumptuous  repasts,  magnificent  mansions,  dogs,  horses, 
and  mistresses,  a  portion  of  value,  which,  vested  in  produc- 
tive occupation,  would  enable  a  multitude  of  willing  labor- 
ers, whom  his  extravagance  now  consigns  to  idleness  and 
misery,  to  provide  themselves  with  warm  clothing,  nour- 
ishing food,  and  household  conveniences.  The  gold  buckles 
of  the  rich  man  leave  the  poor  one  without  shoes  to  his 
feet ;  and  the  laborer  will  want  a  shirt  to  his  back,  while 
his  rich  neighbor  glitters  in  velvet  and  embroidery."* 
Such  are  the  inevitable  consequences  of  the  extravagance 
in  living  which  we  indulge.  The  poor  are  perishing  for 
the  bread  wasted  upon  our  tables,  for  the  clothing  thrown 
away  upon  our  persons  and  dwellings,  and  for  all  the 
treasure  which  our  reckless  passions  destroy.  Let  these 
considerations,  therefore,  moderate  our  passion  for  embel- 
lishment and  luxury,  and  lead  us,  first  of  all,  to  make  such 
a  disposition  of  our  property,  as  will  render  it  instrument 

♦  Say's  Political  Economy,  p-  414. 


USES  OF  WEALTH*  83 

tal  in  alleviating  the  burden  of  parents  whose  hands  are 
the  only  means  of  support  to  helpless  groups  of  children, 
of  affording  instruction  and  comfort  to  ignorant  and  perish- 
ing multitudes,  and  thus  of  diminishing  the  pains  and  mul- 
tiplying the  enjoyments,  of  correcting  the  vice  and  in- 
creasing the  virtue  of  poor,  afflicted,  and  wayward  human 
nature. 

Finally,  perhaps  a  man  might  have  some  reference  to 
ihe  favorable  regards  of  society,  or  to  the  influence  which 
wealth  gives,  as  a  motive  in  its  accumulation  and  expendi- 
ture, and  yet  not  offend  against  the  claims  of  duty.  Just 
or  unjust,  we  are  so  constituted  as  to  feel  a  respect  for  those 
who  have  in  their  hands  large  accumulations,  or  the 
means  of  encircling  themselves  with  earthly  good.  This 
influence  is  vastly  increased,  however,  when  these  accu- 
mulations  are  turned  iuto  channels  of  public  utility.  To 
have  it,  therefore,  in  hands  who  should  not  pervert  it,  but 
make  it  subservient  to  the  interests  of  virtue,  of  religion, 
of  intelligence,  of  humanity,  and  of  whatever  exalts  the 
condition  and  ennobles  the  character  of  man,  is  devoutly 
to  be  desired.  And  perhaps  there  may  be  virtue  and  dis- 
interestedness enough  in  some,  to  desire  the  influence 
which  wealth  gives,  merely  for  the  purpose  of  wielding  it 
to  the  glory  of  God,  and  the  good  of  mankind.  At  all 
events,  we  can  conceive  of  no  direliction  of  duty  in  har- 
boring such  a  motive,  and  no  reason  why  Christians  should 
not  feel  themselves  bound  to  act  under  its  influence. 

Upon  this  survey,  reader,  what  is  the  result  ?  Which 
of  these  motives  has  had  the  greatest  influence  in  your 
plans  of  accumulation,  and  for  which  of  the  foregoing  ob- 


84  *  USES  OF  WEALTH. 

jects  does  the  most  of  your  money  go  ?  Remember  that  you 
will  never  obtain  the  greatest  good  from  your  income, 
until  you  duly  and  conscientiously  distribute  it  among  the 
various  objects  of  utility  which  it  is  capable  of  promoting. 
When  this  is  done,  you  will  so  far  be  entitled  to  the  ap- 
proval of  well  done,  good  and  faithful  servant,  forasmuch 
as  you  have  been  faithful  over  a  few  things,  I  will  make 
you  ruler  over  many. 

The  last  inquiry,  whether  if  we  have  duly  provided 
the  advantages  of  wealth  for  ourselves  and  dependences, 
we  have  done  as  much  as  we  ought  to  bestow  them  upon 
others,  we  must  leave  for  another  chapter. 


CHAPTER    VI. 

Vindication  of  aystematic  beneficence  by  arguments  drawn  from 
the  principles  of  our  nature,  and  the  constitution  of  things. 

Having  noticed  the  different  kinds  of  good  which 
may  be  purchased  with  earthly  treasure,  it  becomes  a 
question /or  whom  a  man  having  such  treasure,  or  the 
means  of  procuring  it,  ought  to  lay  out.  That  his  oWn 
physical,  intellectual,  and  moral  wants  deserve  a  primary 
regard,  will  not  be  doubted.  The  placing  of  ourselves  in 
a  condition  to  be  above  dependence  vn  others,  being  a 
duty  which  we  owe  alike  to  ourselves  and  to  society, 
should  take  precedence  of  every  thing  else  in  our  plans 
of  acquiring  and  expending  property.  This  principle  is 
recognized  in  the  Scriptures,  when  they  say.  Let  him  that 
stole  steal  no  more  ;  but  rather  let  him  labor,  working 
with  his  hands  the  thing  which  is  good,  that  he  may  have 
to  give  to  him  that  needeth.  If  our  wants  are  not  pro- 
vided for  by  our  own  industry,  they  must  be  by  stealth  or 
other  dishonorable  means.  But  in  providing  for  our- 
selves as  we  ought,  we  may  secure  in  greater  or  less  de- 
grees the  means  of  beneficence  to  others,  or  of  giving  to 
him  that  needeth.  Even  if  it  is  small,  still  the  obligations 
of  beneficence  are  fulfilled  not  less  by  the  widow's  two 

8 


g6  tEilSONAL   ^ENEtll'S. 

ttiites,  when  it  is  duly  proportioned  to  her  means,  than  hy 
those  whose  resources  enable  them  to  give  largely. 

There  are  many  ways,  however,  in  which  a  man  may 
lay  out  money  for  his  personal  advantage,  without  expend- 
ing it  directly  upon  himself.  What  he  pays  for  the  support 
of  government,  though  it  goes  into  hands  remote  from  his 
own,  is  so  much  taken  from  his  estate  as  a  means  of  pro- 
tecting the  rest.  **  Without  this  protection  of  each  indi- 
vidual  by  the  united  force  of  the  whole  community,"  says 
a  distinguished  writer,  *'  it  is  impossible  to  conceive  any 
considetable  development  of  the  productive  powers  of 
man,  of  land,  and  of  capital ;  or  even  to  conceive  the 
e^^istenee  of  capital  at  all  j  for  it  is  nothing  more  than 
accumulated  value  operating  under  the  safeguard  of  au- 
thority. This  is  the  reason  why  no  nation  has  ever  ar* 
rived  at  any  degreeof  opulence,  that  ha^not  been  subject 
to  a  regular  government.  Civilised  nations  are  indebted 
to  political  organization  for  the  innumerable  and  infinitely 
various  productions  that  satisfy  their  wants,  as  well  as  for 
the  fine  arts,  and  the  opportunities  of  leisure  that  accu- 
mulation affords,  without  which  the  faculties  of  the  mind 
GOlild  never' 'be  cultivated,  or  man  by  their  means  attain 
the  full  dignity,  whereof  his  nature  is  susceptible.  The 
poor  man,  that  can  call  nothing  his  own,  is  equally  inte- 
rested with  the  rich  in  upholding  the  inviolability  of  pro- 
perty. His  personal  services  would  not  be  available, 
without  the  aid  of  accumulations  previously  made  and 
protected."*  State  revenue,  therefore,  is  money  paid  by 
individuals  composing  the  state  for  their  own  personal  se* 
♦  Say's  Political  Economy,  page  135,  136. 


PERSONAL    BENEFITS.  QT- 

curity.  The  same  may  be  said  of  money  expended  upon 
public  works  of  ornament  or  utility  in  the  neighborhood 
of  a  man's  possessions.  It  is  paid  for  a  public  good,  in 
which  the  individual  is  to  be  a  joint  partaker  with  others. 
In  the  same  class  may  be  ranked  whatever  is  givon  to 
purchase  friends,  to  obtain  th«  reputation  of  liberality,  to 
free  oneself  from  the  annoyance  of  a  beggar,  to  raise  him- 
self in  the  estimation  of  others,  or  to  enlist  their  service 
in  procuring  office  or  any  other  advantage.  True,  though 
it  may  be  that, 

"  From  motives  such  as  these,  tho'  not  the  best, 
Springs  in  due  time  supply  for  the  distress'd"*— 

yet  monies  expended  thus  have  self  for  their  object,  not 
less  than  what  a  man  gives  for  his  own  food,  or  for  any 
other  personal  comfort.  The  same  may  be  said  of  those 
gifts,  which  are  used  as  the  balm  of  a  disturbed  conscience, 
and  of  those  death -bed  gratuities  which  are  intended  to 
make  amends  for  a  life  of  rapine  and  covetousness. 
'*  Some  will  part  with  their  riches,"  says  an  old  writer, 
**  when  they  can  keep  them  no  longer.  This  is  like  a 
cut-purse,  who  being  espied  or  pursued,  will  drop  a  purse 
of  gold,  because  he  can  keep  it  no  longer."  Now  in  all 
these  ways,  an  individual  may  lay  out  money,  and  yet  do 
it  wholly  from  selfish  motives,  as  much  as  in  what  he 
pays  for  his  daily  bread. 

Next  to  provision  for  oneself  is  that  which  he  is  re- 
-quired  to  make  for  his  wife,  children,  and  those  who  have 
^.  natural  claim  upon  him  for  the  means  of  subsistence, 

*  Cowper. 


08  PROVISION  FOR  one's  FAMILY. 

They  are  a  part  of  himself,  the  little  community  over 
which  he  enjoys  a  monopoly  of  right,  and  his  own  in- 
terest is  identified  whh  theirs.  It  is  with  reference  to 
advancing  children  in  the  world,  and  giving  them  the 
means  of  moving  in  an  honorable  circle  that  most  parents 
feel  chiefly  concerned  to  accumulate  fortunes.  All  the 
means  of  happiness,  therefore,  which  they  purchase  for 
them  are  to  be  viewed  in  the  light  of  an  equivalent  for  the 
money  paid,  not  less  than  those  which  they  buy  for 
themselves.  It  is  not  charity  to  support  one's  own  house- 
hold. So  far  duty  is  understood  with  sufficient  clear- 
ness. 

The  point,  therefore,  which  requires  to  be  secured,  is  the 
settlement  of  those  principles  regarding  the  use  of  money 
which  are  stated  in  a  previous  chapter  ;  that  the  devoting 
of  a  portion  of  it  to  God  by  procuring  for  the  needy ^ 
witJiout  the  prospect  of  remuneration,  the  same  good  of 
which  we  ought  to  make  it  instrumental  to  ourselves,  should 
stand  on  a  level  with  our  own  support,  and  should  he 
provided  for  with  the  same  care,  forethought  and  regula- 
rity. 

With  the  means  at  command  of  converting  the  physical 
elements  to  human  use,  what  can  be  more  important  than 
that  we  should  understand/br  whose  henefit  we  are  bound 
to  employ  them  ?  If  God  placed  them  in  our  hands  for 
the  benefit  of  others  as  well  as  ourselves,  and  designed 
that  one  portion  should  go  as  a  gratuity  to  the  improve- 
ment of  the  human  character  and  condition,  as  much  -as 
that  another  portion  should  be  expended  for  our  own  use, 
and  yet,  we  are  guilty  of  arrogating  the  whole  to   our- 


FEELINGS   OF    HUMANITY.  89 

selves,  how  can  we  ansvv-or  for  the  robbery,  or  meet  the 
poor  in  judgment,  to  whose  destruction  we  have  been 
accessory  ? 

1.  The  duty  of  providing  such  a  systematic  gratuity 
for  the  good  of  others,  finds  support  from  ouv  feelings  of 
humanity. 

That  an  individual  has  a  legal  and  equitable  right  to 
all  the  worldly  property  which  has  fallen  to  him  oy 
legacy,  which  he  has  procured  by  his  own  industry  and 
good  management,  or  by  other  just  and  honorable  means, 
is  too  plain  to  admit  of  controversy.*  No  one  has  a  right 
to  wrest  it  from  him  by  violence,  or  to  claim  it  otherwise 
than  by  presenting  an  equivalent  which  he  shall  volunta- 
rily accept.  Still,  there  may  be  cases  in  which  a  man 
would  incur  as  much  guilt  by  refusing  to  bestow  a  portion 
of  his  property  without  an  equivalent,  as  he  would  by 
withholding  it  where  he  is  legally  bound.  God  can  make 
a  draught  upon  us,  that  may  indeed  be  resisted  with  legal 
impunity,  but  which  even  the  worst  kind  of  men  could 
not  resist  but  at  the  expense  of  awakening  in  themselves 
as  keen  a  sense  of  remorse  as  they  would  koi,  if  they 
should  defraud  a  creditor  of  his  honest  dues.  Would  not 
that  landlord,  who  in  his  morning  walk,  should  find  a 
mother  with  an  infant'  at  her  breast  frozen  to  death,  in 
consequence  of  having  been  the  evening  previous  driven 
from  his  door  by  his  own  inhuman  parsimony,  feel  the 
anguish  of  remorse  as  much  as  if  he  had  been  guilty  of  a 

"The  right  of  property,  as  defined  by  jurists,  is  the  right  of  use, 
or  even  of  abuse."    Say's  Political  Economy,  p.  133, 


8 


90  LOVE    OF    OFFSPRING. 

flagrant  breach  of  legal  trust  ?  And  would  not  the  moral 
sense  of  a  community  impute  to  him  as  foul  a  misde- 
meanor, if  not  even  more  so,  in  the  one  case  as  in  the 
other.  Of  the  two  there  are  probably  more  that  would 
evade  the  force  of  legal  engagements,  than  there  are  that 
would  refuse  to  give  their  property  for  the  purpose  of 
mitigating  present  misery,  or  to  save  human  life.  Hence, 
though  our  property  is  our  own,  and  we  are  not  amenable 
at  any  earthly  tribunal  for  withholding  it  where  we  are 
not  legally  bound  ;  yet,  there  may  be  cases,  where  wo 
are  not  thus  bound,  in  which  we  should  equally  feel  the 
obligation  of  bestowing  it.  God  has  interwoven  with  our 
natures  so  much  sympathy  in  the  sufferings  of  others, 
that  we  are  involuntarily  impelled  to  the  sacrifice  of 
money  for  their  relief,  when  we  have  no  prospect  of  re- 
muneration. Humanity  will,  for  the  moment,  relax  the 
clench  of  our  parsimony,  and  make  us  liberal  against  all 
our  previous  habits. 

This  feature  in  the  economy  of  human  nature,  though 
somewhat  less  active  than  the  love  of  children,  speaks  a 
language  altogether  as  unequivocal.  It  was  as  obviously 
intended  as  an  inducement  for  us  to  interest  ourselves  in 
the  happiness  of  men  as  such,  and  to  provide  for  the  alle- 
viation of  their  woes,  as  the  love  of  children  is,  to  impel 
us  to  provide  for  their  support.  Indeed,  every  feature  of 
the  animal  economy  has  its  specific  use.  We  cannot 
mistake  the  intention  of  nature  in  the  attachment  for 
their  young,  which  we  discover  in  birds,  beasts,  and  all 
inferior  animals.  This  is  the  only  means  of  their  support 
during  that  period  in  which  they  are  incapable  of  provid- 


ITS    DESIGN    NOT   MISTAKEN.  91 

ing  for  themselves  ;  and  hence,  without  it,  every  animal 
species  would  become  extinct.  But  when  this  period  is 
passed,  and  the  end  is  gained  for  which  God  designed 
their  love  of  offspring,  it  ceases,  and  animals  feel  little 
or  nothing  for  each  other's  sufferings  and  wants.  If  God 
had  rendered  brutes  permanently  dependant  on  each 
other,  as  he  has  men,  he  would  doubtless  have  made  their 
mutual  interest  in  each  other's  sufferings,  permanent  and 
universal.  In  that  case,  we  could  no  more  have  mistaken 
the  design  of  this  interest,  than  we  can  now  mistake  the 
design  for  which  the  dam  is  made  to  love  her  young. 
How,  therefore,  can  we  doubt  that  the  great  Author  of 
our  being  intended,  by  giving  us  a  permanent  sympathy 
in  each  other's  sufferings,  that  beneficence  should  enter 
into  the  ordinary  calculations  of  life,  as  much  as  the  sup- 
ply of  our  own  wants '?  We  have  no  difficulty  in  under- 
standing  that  as  the  love  of  children  is  permanent,  the 
obligations  of  that  relation  are  so  too.  We  always  feel  for 
our  children,  and  we  think  them  very  ungrateful,  unless 
they  feel  for  us  in  return.  Our  dearest  possessions  we 
cheerfully  consign  to  them,  and  esteem  no  labor  too  great 
for  their  welfare.  And  yet,  though  we  are  conscious  of 
having  feelings  of  humanity,  cannot  look  upon  a  spec- 
tacle of  poverty  and  misery  without  sympathy,  and  would 
even  be  ashamed  to  have  it  thought  we  could  ;  how  few 
there  are  that  interpret  this  principle  into  an  obligation  to 
the  systematic  practice  of  beneficence  ?  They  can  un- 
derstand that  provision  for  their  famihes  ought  to  enter 
into  all  their  calculations  ^bout   making   and  expending 


93  DICTATES    OF    BENEVOLENCE. 

money,  but  cannot  comprehend  how  they  should  be  re- 
quired to  give  place  also  to  the  wants  of  others. 

Perhaps  it  may  be  objected,  that  these  animal  sym- 
pathies, of  which  we  speak,  are  never  excited  except  in 
the  direct  view  of  a  suffering  object,  that  we  cannot 
feel  them  for  those  who  are  distant,  and  that,  therefore,  all 
that  is  required  of  us  is  to  obey  their  impulses,  so  far  as 
to  give  relief  to  those  afflicted  persons  who  come  in  our 
way.  This  objection  would  have  weight,  if  it  were  made 
in  reference  to  the  inferior  tribes,  which,  being  des- 
titude  of  reason,  can  be  operated  upon  only  by  appeal- 
ing directly  to  their  senses.  But  with  us  it  is  differ- 
ent; our  reason  teaches  us  that  misery  is  misery,  whe- 
ther we  see  it  or  not,  and  that  there  is  never  a  time  when 
objects  of  want  do  not  call  for  our  benefactions.  If  there 
are  none  to  need  temporal  relief,  there  are  ignorant  per- 
sons to  be  instructed,  and  vicious  to  be  reclaimed ;  and  for 
these  we  ought  to  expend  our  money  not  less  than  to  feed 
a  starving  man.  We  have  only  to  exercise  the  reason 
which. God  has  given  us,  in  reflecting  that  there  are  at  all 
times  persons  to  be  benefited  by  our  contributions,  to 
keep  alive  in  us  those  sympathies,  which  would  lead  us 
on  the  spur  of  the  monient  to  give  relief  to  an  object  of 
wretchedness.  Not  only  so,  though  we  have  noticed 
only  the  animal  sympathies^  because  somewhat  less  equi- 
vocal, it  should  he  remembered  that,  as  intelligent 
beings,  we  are  capable  of  acting  under  the  higher  dictates 
of  benevolence.  These  impel  us  to  take  an  interest  in 
the  welfare  of  man,  as  such,  without  regard  to  sectional 
clivisions,  or  the  ties  of  kindred.     They  constitute  one  of 


DICTATES  OF  BENEVOLENCE.  §8 

the  most  exalted  features  of  our  nature,  by  which,  not  less 
than  by  its  rational  faculties,  it  is  distinguished  from  infe- 
rior animals,  and  the  systematic  exercise  of  it,  would  do 
much  to  alleviate  the  miseries  of  the  world.  Nor  let  it 
be  supposed,  that  as  individuals,  we  are  excused  from 
doing  any  thing,  because  the  little  we  are  capable  of 
doing  comes  so  far  short  of  the  much  that  needs  to  be 
done.  It  is  by  reasoning  thus  that  many,  doubtless,  are 
detered  from  adopting  any  system  of  charity. 

But  let  us  do  our  duty  and  others  may  be  encouraged  to 
do  theirs ,  and  thus  the  good  influence  may  propagate  itself 
like  leaven  in  meal,  till  it  is  spread  over  the  world.  And 
when  every  man  makes  the  doing  of  good  to  others  one 
of  the  objects  of  his  labor,  as  much  as  supporting  himself 
and  family,  and  regularly  contributes  in  this  way  a  due 
proportion  of  his  income,  the  aggregate  will  be  sufficient 
to  change  the  entire  aspect  of  human  society,  physically 
intellectually,  and  morally.  If  it  cannot  be  proved  to  the 
satisfaction  of  the  mere  political  economist,  that  nine- tenths 
of  the  population  must  inevitably  remain  in  that  degree  of 
misery  and  semi-^barbarism  which  they  are  found  in  at 
present  in  most  of  the  countries  of  Europe,"*  it  ought 
certainly  to  be  impossible  for  the  Christian  to  believe  that 
any  such  necessity  exists.  Are  the  followers  of  Him 
who  gave  his  life  a  ransom  for  the  world,  and  who  left 
it  in  charge  with  his  church  to  disciple  all  nations,  the 
men  to  esteem  plans  of  human  improvement,  E  Utopian, 
or  to  be  terrified  from  embarking  in  them  by  the  small- 

*  Say,  a06. 


94  UTILITY    OF    THE    PRINCIPLE. 

ness  of  their  number  ?  Their  Christian  profession  involves 
a  pledge  to  take  the  lead  in  all  plans  of  beneficence,  at 
every  expense  of  physical  and  moral  energy,  and  in  this 
way  to  live  unto  Him  who  died  for  them  and  rose  again. 

Here,  then,  we  have  in  our  own  bosoms,  an  argument 
in  support  of  the  position  that  we  ought  to  adopt  a  liberal 
system  of  expenditure,  without  the  prospect  of  remunera- 
tion, in  purchasing  for  others  the  same  advantages  which 
we  need  for  ourselves.  We  are  impelled  to  such  a  sacri- 
fice, both  by  our  animal  sympathies,  and  by  the  noblest 
feelings  of  our  nature.  He  that  hath  pity  upon  the  poor 
lendeth  unto  God,  and  that  which  he  hath  given  will  he 
pay  him  again.* 

2.  The  utility  of  this  principle,  when  reduced  to  prac- 
tice, affords  concurrent  testimony  to  its  truth. 

That  God  is  a  Spirit,  unaffected  by  the  accidents  and 
changes  of  matter,  is  a  truth  in  which  all  will  concur. 
He  has  no  ear  to  be  charmed  with  vocal  harmony,  no  eye 
to  be  dazzled  with  the  fascinations  of  painting,  no  taste  to 
be  regaled  with  ambrosial  fruits  and  flowing  nectar,  like 
the  gods  that  flourish  in  the  visions  of  paganism,  and  no 
feeling  to  luxuriate  amid  the  pleasures  of  sense.  He  can 
receive  earthly  gifts  only  through  the  medium  of  those 
for  whom  he  is  peculiarly  interested  to  provide  them.  A 
cup  of  cold  water  given  to  a  disciple  in  the  name  of  a 
disciple,  he  declares,  shall  in  no  wise  lose  its  reward. 
The  food,  and  drink,  and  lodging,  and  clothing,  and  visits 
on  a  sick  bed  and  in  prison,  which  the  least  of  his  saints 

♦  Prov.  xix,,  17,- 


ITTILITY  OF  THE  PRINCIPLE.  95 

ireceive,  he  accepts  as  done  to  himself.  And  the  Psalmist, 
conscious  of  his  incapacity  to  bestow  any  advantage  upon 
God,  observes,  My  goodness  extendeth  not  to  thee,  but  to 
the  saints  that  are  in  the  earth,  and  the  excellent  in  whom 
is  all  my  delight.  Hence,  in  prescribing  toman  the  modes 
of  his  worship,  God  is  governed,  if  I  may  so  speak,  by  a 
regard  to  what  is  most  useful  to  men.  The  principle  of 
utility  runs  throughout  all  the  divine  injunctions  and  pro- 
hibitions, characterizing  the  whole  ethical  economy,  and 
subordinating  it  to  the  one  great  end  of  promoting  the  su- 
preme good*  Hence,  life,  blessings,  prosperity,  and  every 
advantage  in  this,  and  the  life  to  come,  are  represented 
in  the  scriptures,  as  involved  in  the  practice  of  those  du* 
ties  which  God  has  enjoined  upon  men  ;  on  the  other  hand, 
every  evil  is  represented  as  following  in  the  train  of  dis- 
obedience.    All  that  hate  me  love  death. 

But  in  what  way  could  the  advantage  of  the  human 
species  be  so  effectually  promoted,  as  by  setting  every 
one  at  work  to  do  all  possible  good  to  the  rest  ?  We  can 
hardly  conceive  of  a  principle,  whose  practical  tendencies 
would  be  so  beneficial,  as  that  which  requires  us  to  asso- 
ciate a  regular  system  of  beneficence  with  our  own  sup- 
port, in  all  our  plans  of  acquiring  and  expending  money — 
For,  there  are  perhaps  as  many  openings  for  increasing 
happiness  and  diminishing  pain ;  for  diffusing  knowledge 
and  dispelling  ignorance  ;  for  establishing  virtue  and 
overthrowing  vice — by  giving  money,  as  by  any  deeds 
which  we  are  capable  of  performing.  If,  therefore,  the 
utility  of  an  action  be  an  evidence  that  God  requires  it, 
this  will  hold  a  prominent  place  on  the  list  of  our  duties. 


96  IDEA   OF    SACRIFICE. 

3.  The  idea  of  sacrifice  and  surrender  is  inseparable 
from  our  conceptions  of  piety  to  God. 

Whatever  is  an  object  of  human  desire,  God  has 
placed  under  such  restrictions,  that  in  the  use  of  it,  his 
authority  may  be  acknowledged.  The  objects  of  desire 
are  those  which  give  momentum  to  man,  and  he  nevei* 
acts  but  in  view  of  them ;  and  the  vigor  of  his  actions  is 
usually  proportioned  to  the  strength  of  his  desire*  Hence* 
it  is  to  be  supposed  that  the  divine  precepts  would  have 
respect  chiefly  to  such  objects,  and  that  they  would  be 
placed  under  the  heaviest  contributions.  It  is  hardly 
necessary  to  restrict  men  in  regard  to  things  that  have 
little  or  no  influence  over  their  conduct.  It  being  a  mat- 
ter of  indiflerence  with  them  in  such  cases,  whether  they 
take  one  course  or  another,  obedience  would  be  no  test  of 
their  real  feelings  towards  the  Supreme  Legislator.  If  a 
government  should  levy  its  imposts  only  on  objects  which 
no  one  in  the  country  cared  to  introduce,  what  would  it 
gain?  By  subjecting  the  staple  articles  of  trade  to 
duties,  the  government  attains  the  double  end  of  making 
Its  own  power  felt,  and  of  filling  its  treasury.  In 
like  manner,  God  asserts  his  right  to  control  his  creatures, 
by  causing  his  laws  to  take  effect  upon  those  things  which 
the  heart  of  man  the  most  highly  esteems.  We  have  an 
instance  of  this  in  the  command  that  Abraham  should  offer 
up  hie  "only  son  as  a  burnt  sacrifice.  That  devoted  patri- 
arch had  lived  so  many  years  in  habits  of  unremitted  obe- 
dience to  God,  that  to  have  required  of  him  no  more  than 
the  ordinary  sacrifices  of  religion,  would  have  led  to  no 
remarkable  development  of  his  piety  and  faith.       With 


OBJECTS  OP  DESIRE  TAXED*  9t 

\kese,  long  custom  had  rendered  him  familiar.  Hence,  God 
demanded  his  only  son,  the  son  of  his  dotage,  of  his 
prayers  and  dearest  hopes,  as  best  calculated  to  test  the 
strength  of  his  faith.  There  was  nothing  in  the  universe 
that  Abraham  could  not  have  given  up  more  easily  than 
Isaac  ;  and  it  was  for  this  reason  that  Isaac  was  de- 
manded, that  it  might  more  clearly  appear,  whether  there 
was  any  thing  that  took  precedence  in  his  affections  to 
the  divine  commandments. 

David  appears  to  have  felt  the  force  of  this  principle 
when  he  made  the  following  expression  :  Nay  ; .  but  I 
will  surely  buy  it  of  thee  at  a  price  ;  neither  will  I  offer 
burnt-offerings  unto  the  Lord  my  God  of  that  which  doth 
cost  me  nothing.  So  David  bought  the  threshing-floor, 
and  the  oxen,  for  fifty  pieces  of  silver.*  Offerings  unac- 
companied by  cost  and  sacrifice,  are,  by  no  means,  suited 
to  the  feelings  of  one,  who  is  conscious  of  owing  every 
thing  to  the  goodness  of  God. 

The  same  principle  may  be  seen  in  every  religious  re-^ 
quirement.  God  demands  those  things  as  evidences  of 
love  to  him,  in  which  our  affections  are  the  most  deeply 
enlisted,  and  the  surrender  of  which  we  feel  to  be  a  self- 
denial.  And  some  of  his  requirements,  seem  to  have  no 
other  design,  than  to  obstruct  the  current  of  human  incli- 
nation, and  thus  to  test  the  genuineness  of  man's  allegiance. 
We  can  see  no  other  for  the  prohibition  of  a  particular 
tree  in  paradise,  under  which  our  first  parents  were  placed, 
and  no  other  for  many  of  the  requirements  of  the  Mosaic 

*  2  Sam.  xxiv.  24. 
9 


98  WEALTH  SUPREMELY  ADORED. 

law.  The  only  good  effect  connected  with  their  obser- 
vance, was  to  evince  a  willingness  on  the  part  of  man,  to 
act  in  a  particular  manner,  solely  on  the  strength  of  divine 
authority. 

Admitting  the  above  reasoning  to  be  correct,  and  what 
should  we  suppose  would  be  more  likely  to  be  laid  under 
contribution  and  restriction,  than  wealth,  and  those 
passions  which  impel  us  to  the  pursuit  of  it?  What  has 
enlisted  a  larger  amount  of  desire  and  labor  among  men  ? 
For  what  are  equal  sacrifices  made  ?  How  cheerfully 
are  reputation,  health,  conscience,  and  even  life  staked  for 
the  acquisition  of  money  !  How  are  all  oceans  traversed, 
all  climates  encountered,  and  all  hazards  incurred  to 
secure  the  glittering  prize  !  Can  a  Christian  believe, 
that  his  Redeemer  requires  him  to  make  no  expression  of 
love,  in  the  use  of  an  object  which  has  been  pursued  with 
such  idolatrous  devotion  ?  It  is  not  sufficient  to  love  in 
word,  but  we  must  love  in  deed  and  in  truth !  Judging 
from  the  analogy  of  religious  obligation,  we  might  reasona- 
bly conclude,  that,  if  there  were  no  other  way  of  con- 
secrating a  portion  of  our  income  to  God,  it  would  be  our 
duty  to  pour  it  out  before  him,  as  David  did  the  water  that 
was  procured  from  the  well  of  Bethlehem  at  the  hazard 
of  life.  We  may  say  of  our  wealth,  *  I  will  not  devote  it 
all  to  myself.  It  is  the  price  of  blood.  It  is  the  fruit  of 
too  much  toil  and  danger  to  be  withheld  from  him  to  whom 
I  owe  so  much.  It  shall  help  me  pay  my  vows  to  God« 
Its  consecration  upon  his  altars  shall  do  what  it  can,  to 
express  the  strong  sense  I  feel  of  my  utter  incapacity  to 
make  returns  for  the  unspeakable  gifts  which  his  mercy 


NATURE    IS   ALL    RECIPROCITY.  99 

has  bestowed  upon  me.'  When  such  feelings,  therefore, 
which  are  the  natural  fruit  of  piety,  concur  with  our 
knowledge  of  the  fact,  that  great  good  may  be  done  by 
the  sacrifice  of  money,  how  should  it  happen  that  so  little  is 
actually  sacrificed  ;  that  so  few  have  adopted  any  system 
of  beneficence  ? 

4.  This  principle  accords  with  the  general  reciprocity 
which  is  apparent  among  the  works  of  God.  In  the 
machinery  of  nature,  we  see  a  mutual  action  and  reaction 
of  all  the  parts  upon  each  other.  Animal  contributes  to 
the  production  of  animal,  and  vegetable,  to  vegetable  life. 
The  blade  of  corn  that  springs  up  alone,  bewails  the  ab- 
sence of  its  species,  and  brings  little  fruit  to  perfection. 
All  the  portions  of  matter  are  wisely  balanced  and  adjust- 
ed to  each  other,  so  that  each  contributes  to  the  regularity 
of  the  rest.  In  this  way  God  contrives  to  make  every 
thing  contribute  to  the  perfection  of  the  whole.  The 
sun  pays  a  yearly  tribute  to  vegetation ;  vegetation 
opens  its  inexhaustible  stores  for  the  sustentation  of 
animal  and  human  life  ;  animals  and  men  repay  the 
service  to  vegetation,  by  "  cropping  its  abundance,"  and 
by  helping  the  useful  plants  to  cope  with  their  noxious  and 
more  potent  neighbors.  The  earth  opens  its  caverns  as  a 
resting  place  for  the  immensity  of  waters,  and  the  waters 
repay  the  service  by  moistening  the  dry  land.  All  is 
reciprocation.  From  what  is  least  to  what  is  greatest, 
from  a  mote  to  a  world,  from  a  world  to  a  system,  from 
a  system  to  the  entire  structure  of  the  universe,  there  is  a 
uniform  action  of  thing  upon  thing,  of  substance  upon 
substance.     The   same  is   also   seen  in  the  mysterious 


too  NATURE    IS    ALL    RECIPROCITY. 

action  and  reaction  of  matter  and  mind.  And  now,  are 
we  to  suppose  that  God  has  not  subjected  the  human 
family  in  relation  to  each  other,  to  the  same  general 
arrangement  ?  Or,  if  he  has  done  it  in  some  things,  are 
there  others  which  are  different  ?  Has  he  taxed  one  order 
of  gifts  and  not  another  ?  The  same  God  who  has  made 
social  intercourse  so  necessary  to  our  happiness,  who  has 
bound  the  distant  portions  of  the  human  family  together 
by  the  ties  of  commerce,  and  by  bestowing  upon  them  a 
common  nature,  doubtless  intended  that  they  should  feel 
for  each  other  a  reciprocation  of  interest.  Nor  is  he 
satisfied  with  having  it  evaporate  in  mere  feeling ;  but 
intends  that  it  shall  impel  them  to  the  mutual  performance 
of  kind  offices  in  the  use  of  their  physical,  intellectual, 
and  moral  resources.  In  the  necessities  of  our  fellow- 
men,  he  has  provided  a  place  for  our  pecuniary  benefac- 
tions, and  requires  us  to  do  good  unto  all  as  we  have 
opportunity. 

5.  It  is  not  to  be  supposed,  that  so  heavenly  a  gift  as 
the  true  religion,  can  dwell  on  earthly  ground,  without  im- 
parting even  to  the  grosser  possessions  of  worldly  property 
an  additional  power  of  conferring  happiness.  Its  nature 
is  too  operative  and  influential,  to  admit  of  its  being  con- 
fined to  the  region  of  thought,  and  feeling,  and  imagina- 
tion. It  cannot  be  buried  in  the  secret  recesses  of  the 
soul.  It  seeks  development,  and  must  have  it,  or  like 
life  ejLcluded  from  vital  air,  will  escape  from  its  noxious 
imprisonment.  So  divine  a  gift  as  a  religion  whose  chief 
element  is  benevolence,  and  whose  author  is  love,  cannot 
exist  in  connection  with  matter,  without  conferring  even 


MATTER    IMPROVED    BY  RELIGION.  101 

upon  that,  the  power  of  diffusing  richer  blessings  over  the 
soul  and  society  of  man.  As  the  house  of  Obed-edom 
and  all  that  pertained  to  him  were  blessed  on  account  of  a 
three  month's  residence  of  the  ark  of  God  in  it,  so  now, 
the  goods,  chattels,  farms,  merchandise,  and  every 
worldly  resource  of  a  man  will  become  doubly  productive 
of  happiness,  both  to  himself  and  others,  by  being  under 
the  control  of  a  heart  supremely  devoted  to  God.  It  is 
thus  that  the  meek  inherit  the  earth,  and  godliness  has  the 
promise  of  the  life  that  now  is,  as  well  as  of  that  which  is 
to  come.  Under  its  influence  gold,  silver,  farms,  and 
merchandise  will  be  quickened  into  noble  and  benevolent 
action,  and  will  go  abroad  to  mitigate  the  woes  of  the  un- 
fortunate, to  facilitate  the  march  of  intellect,  and  the 
triumph  of  virtue. 

"  When  religion  mingles  with  us  raeaner  things, 
'Tis  even  as  if  an  angel  shook  his  wings  ; 
Immortal  fragrance  fills  the  circuit  wide 
That  tells  us  whence  his  treasures  are  supplied. 
So  when  a  ship  well  freighted  with  the  stores 
The  sun  matures  on  India's  spicy  shores, 
Has  dropp'd  her  anchor  and  her  canvass  furl'd 
In  some  safe  haven  of  our  western  world, 
'Twere  vain  inquiry  to  what  port  she  went, 
The  gale  informs  us,  laden  with  the  scent."* 

Even  the  ground  on  which  the  celestial  visitant  stands 
becomes  holy,  and  more  than  Eden's  bloom  is  restored  to 
our  world.  When  such  a  religion  comes  to  be  universal, 
the  golden  age  of  the  poets  will  be  realized,  the  tears  of 
sorrow  will  be  wiped  from  every  eye,  the  voice  of  oppres- 
sion will  be  heard  no  more,  and  the  principal  woes  of  hu- 

*  Cowper. 
9* 


102 

man  life  will  become  extinct.  *'  For  brass  I  will  bring 
gold,  and  for  iron  I  will  bring  silver,  and  for  wood,  brass, 
and  for  stones,  iron  :  I  will  also  make  thy  officers  peace, 
and  thy  exactors  righteousness.  Violence  shall  no  more 
be  heard  in  thy  land,  wasting  nor  destruction  within  thy 
borders  :  but  thou  shalt  call  thy  walls  Salvation,  and  thy 
gates  Praise."^ 

*  Isa.  Ix.  17, 18. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

Superabundant  results  of  well-directed  industry  corroborates  the 
duty  of  systematic  beneficence. 

There  are  certain  duties  which  may  be  as  clearly- 
deduced  from  our  character  and  circumstances,  as  from 
express  precept.  The  duty  of  supporting  one's  own  fa- 
mily, for  instance,  is  not  more  explicitly  taught  by  that 
passage  of  God's  word  which  declares,  that  if  any  man 
provide  not  for  his  own,  and  specially  for  those  of  his  own 
house,  he  hath  denied  the  faith,  and  is  worse  than  an  infi- 
del,* than  by  our  conjugal  and  paternal  affections ;  and, 
by  the  condition  of  dependence  upon  their  head,  in  which 
most  families  are  placed.  That  we  ought  not  to  be  idle 
also,  but  apply  ourselves  to  some  useful  occupation,  is  a 
duty  as  clearly  enforced  by  the  necessities  of  our  situa- 
tion, as  by  such  declarations  in  the  Bible  as  the  following  : 
He  that  will  not  work  neither  shall  he  eat ;  in  the  sweat 
of  thy  face  shalt  thoii  eat  thy  bread  till  thou  return  unto 
the  ground. 

To  which  the  greater  weight  ought  to  be  given,  those 
inculcations  of  duty  that  we  find  in  nature,  or  those  we 
find  in  revelation,  it  is  not  material  for  us  to  decide.     A 

*  I  Tim.  V.  8. 


104  CUMULATION  OF  EVIDENCE. 

single  indubitable  inculcation  from  either  would  be  suffi- 
cient, were  it  not  for  that  perverseness  of  our  natures, 
which  sets  reason  at  defiance  and  tramples  upon  the  re- 
straints of  law.  As  a  compassionate  father,  therefore, 
God  pursues  us  with  line  upon  line,  precept  upon  precept, 
here  a  little  and  there  a  little,  repeating  and  re-repeating, 
in  revelation,  what  he  had  already  rendered  sufficiently 
explicit  in  the  volume  of  nature. 

Thus,  with  reference  to  the  duty  of  providing  system- 
atically to  procure  for  others,  without  the  prospect  of  an 
equivalent,  the  same  good  with  our  money,  of  which  we 
ought  to  make  it  instrumental  to  ourselves  and  families  ? 
God  has  given  us  such  a  cumulation  of  evidence,  as 
would  seem  to  render  the  misapprehension  of  it  impos- 
sible. 

It  is  not  among  the  least  of  these  evidences,  that  so 
much  application  to  the  useful  callings,  as  is  necessary  to 
the  health  and  peace  of  the  world,  is  usually  rewarded  hy 
more  of  the  good  things  of  this  life,  than  we  need,  to  an- 
swer all  the  consistent  purposes  of  wealth  upon  ourselves 
and  those  who  have  a  natural  claim  upon  us  for  sup- 
port. 

That  it  is  most  for  the  advantage  of  man  to  be  engaged 
in  useful  business  the  greater  part  of  the  time  not  occupi- 
ed in  taking  necessary  refreshment,  is  too  well  understood 
to  require  explanation  or  argument.  The  development 
of  our  powers,  physical,  intellectual,  and  moral ;  the  promo- 
tion of  our  health,  together  with  our  security  against  temp- 
tation, alike  depend  upon  our  being  thus  engaged.  What  a 
race  of  imbeciles  in  body  and  mind  should  we  soon  become 


PRODUCTIVENESS  OF  INDUSTRY.  105 

without  industry  !  How  pregnant  with  mischief  and 
every  evil  work  would  our  Hves  be,  if  the  present  fruits 
of  industry  flowed  in  upon  us  spontaneously,  leaving  us 
the  whole  time  to  follow  the  bent  of  our  inclinations ! 
The  earth  could  not  contain  a  race  like  ours,  existing  un- 
der  such  circumstances.  Our  lawless  passions  would  not 
require  a  deluge,  nor  showers  of  burning  brimstone,  nor 
any  extraneous  aids  to  bring  on  our  ruin ;  but  would 
contain,  in  their  own  nature,  the  direful  elements,  by 
which  the  earth  would  be  swept  with  the  besom  of  utter 
desolation ! 

When,  therefore,  industry  is  carried  to  its  proper  lim- 
its, and  man  is  active  only  to  the  extent  that  is  most  for 
his  advantage,  in  other  respects,  he  usually  obtains  a 
greater  amount  of  the  good  things  of  this  world,  than  he 
needs  for  himself  and  dependents.  This  is  true  of  the 
aggregated  mass  of  human  society,  whatever  causes  may 
operate  to  produce  want  in  particular  cases.  And  there 
has  probably  never  been  a  time,  (except  in  instances  of 
unusual  visitation,)  in  which,  if  all  human  hands  had  been 
judiciously  distributed  among  the  profitable  occupations, 
more  would  not  have  been  realized  than  was  necessary 
for  all  the  consistent  purposes  of  human  life.  And  we 
may  venture  to  predict  that  no  such  period  will  ever  come ; 
for  God  has  promised  that  seed  time  and  harvest  shall 
continue  their  propitious  visitations  to  man,  to  the  end  of  the 
world,  A  competence  is  neither  so  easy  of  access  as  to 
supersede  labor,  nor  so  difficult  as  to  impose  more,  were 
it  judiciously  distributed,  than  our  health,  virtue,  and  gen- 
eral happiness  require.     And  the  present  economy  under 


106  VAST   PROFUSION  OF  EXPENSE. 

which  we  are  placed,  even  as  inhabitants  of  this  world,  is 
as  nicely  adjusted  to  our  character  as  sinners,  and  is  as 
distinctly  marked  by  the  wisdom  and  goodness  of  God,  as 
the  Eden  of  man's  primeval  abode  was,  to  his  state  of 
rectitude.  The  husbandman,  the  merchant,  the  mechanic, 
the  professional  man,  and  all  whose  capacities  are  judi- 
ciously exerted,  realize,  in  ordinary  cases,  more  than  they 
need  for  all  the  proper  ends  of  wealth  upon  themselves 
and  families. 

This  fact  is  fully  attested  by  the  immense  sums  which 
they  have  found  means  of  expending  in  every  age,  upon 
objects  ruinous  to  health,  virtue,  and  the  general  good  of 
the  species.  The  amount  of  wealth  which  has  been  was- 
ted upon  the  monuments  of  human  folly  and  wickedness, 
lies  not  within  the  reach  of  our  utmost  calculations.  Af- 
ter we  have  subtracted,  not  only  all  that  was  necessary 
to  the  subsistence  of  the  species,  but  all  that  it  has  cost  to 
meet  the  demands  of  refinement,  and  to  procure  the  means 
of  innocent  luxury  and  embellishment,  we  shall  probably 
find  the  remainder  of  what  has  been  possessed  and  expend- 
ed by  civilized  man,  greater  than  this  amount.  On  this 
subject  we  are  not  furnished  with  sufficient  data  to  be 
minute  in  our  calculations.  A  superficial  survey,  how- 
ever, of  the  millions  sunk  in  the  whirlpools  of  unjust  war, 
or  consumed  upon  vicious  indulgences,  upon  useless  or 
pernicious  works  of  art,  and  upon  other  objects  equally 
destructive  of  the  interests  of  mankind,  will  convince 
every  judicious  mind,  that  as  much  or  more  wealth  goes 
to  the  injury,  than  to  the  advantage  of  the  world. 
Whether  more  or  less,  the  amount  expended  in  this  way 


WEALTH   OF   EARTH   AND  OCEAN.  lOt 

is,    according   to  the  most  moderate  ©omputation,   very 
great. 

Assuming  such  to  be  the  fact,  and  the  result  is  inevita- 
ble, that  men  obtain  more  by  their  industry,  than  they 
need  to  procure  for  themselves  and  families,  as  many  of 
the  fruits  of  wealth  as  can  be  permanently  for  their  ad* 
vantage.  Divine  Providence  has  shown  so  great  a  care 
for  the  preservation  of  the  species,  and  such  studious  soli- 
citude to  have  their  physical  wants  amply  supplied,  that 
earth,  ocean,  and  all  the  elements  teem  with  the  means  of 
wealth,  of  life,  and  of  happiness.  The  soil,  over  a  vast 
extent  of  the  earth's  surface,  is  gifted  with  unbounded 
luxuriance,  and  opens  to  industry  every  possible  encour* 
agement.  While  less  arable  regions,  that  seem  an  un- 
productive waste,  often  abound  in  sources  of  mineral 
wealth,  so  ample  as  to  render  them  still  more  productive 
fields  for  the  exertion  of  industry.  Deep  in  the  bowels 
of  the  earth,  perhaps  under  the  rugged  aspect  of  moun- 
tain scenery,  or  far  off  upon  the  ocean-wave,  God  has  hid 
the  rewards  of  human  toil.  And  hence,  the  productive 
powers  of  man,  in  the  use  and  furtherance  of  these  natu- 
ral agents,  are  never  exerted,  when  the  results  are  not 
greater  than  the  wants  of  those  engaged. 

But  it  may  be  asked,  why  then  has  the  world  suffered 
so  much  from  poverty  ?  The  reasons  for  this  are  to  be 
found  from  other  sources,  than  any  inherent  deficiency  in 
the  fruits  of  well-directed  industry.  That  there  are  instan* 
ces  of  such  deficiency,  we  do  not  doubt ;  but  they  are  not  so 
frequent  as  to  affect  the  general  principle,  that  the  results 
of  industry  are  superabundant.     The  immense  amount  of 


103  CAUSES  OP   POVERTY; 

capital,  which,  under  the  present  system  of  things,  is  con*! 
signed  to  obhvion,  or  to  what  is  worse,  and  the  singular 
fatality  that  this  waste  should  always  bear  heaviest  upon 
the  poorer  classes,  may  serve  in  part  to  account  for  the 
fact  that  such  multitudes  should,  in  every  age,  be  sunk  so 
far  below  the  means  of  competence.  The  indolence  of 
men,  the  misdirection  of  their  efforts,  that  unequal  distri- 
bution  of  property  which  results  from  hereditary  privi- 
leges, or  from  the  superior  gifts  and  application  of  the 
few  over  the  many,  together  with  other  causes  that  might 
be  enumerated,  will  account  for  the  prevalence  of  pover- 
ty among  the  human  family. 

Some  countries  are  so  filled  up  with  inhabitants  as  to 
be  incapable  of  giving  them  a  competent  support,  and 
hence,  a  part  must  suffer.  The  only  cure  for  this  evil  is 
to  increase  their  commercial  or  mechanical  resources,  or 
what  would  be  better  still,  an  emigration  of  a  portion  of 
their  inhabitants,  to  those  immense  and  fertile  portions  of 
the  earth  that  are  uncultivated.  "The  world  yet  has 
room  enough,  and  the  cultivated  land  on  the  surface  of 
the  globe  is  far  inferior  in  extent  to  the  fertile  land  remain- 
ing untilled."  There  is  no  computing  the  number  of  in- 
habitants that  might  find  a  competent  support  on  the  sur- 
face of  this  earth,  provided  they  were  properly  distributed 
over  it.  It  is  not  surprising,  however,  that  when  too 
many  crowd  into  a  particular  locality,  some  of  them 
should  suffer  from  poverty. 

But  the  evils  arising  from  this  source  are  small,  com- 
pared with  those  which  result  from  bad  governments, 
where  all  legislation  goes  to  favor  the  few,  at  the  expense 


BAD  GOVERNMENTS DRONES.  109 

©Fthe  many.  Millions  are  at  this  moment  crushed  under 
the  weight  of  institutions  which  sprang  up  in  a  barbarous 
age,  when  the  science  of  government  was  Httle  understood, 
and  the  rights  of  man  stiJl  less  respected;  but  which  time 
and  circumstances  have  so  consolidated  as  to  render  enrian- 
cipation  difficult,  if  not  impossible.  "  We  know  and  think 
too  little,"  observes  a  late  writer  in  the  old  world,  "of  the 
feelings  that  are  working  in  the  bosoms  of  the  abject  and 
wretched  poor — if  we  knew  and  thought  more  on  this  sub- 
ject, we  should  look  with  dread  and  wonder  at  the  placid 
surface  which,  in  common,  the  social  mass  exhibits.  The 
personal  endurance  of  famine,  cold,  and  discomfort,  from 
day  to  day,  and  the  worse  anguish  of  seeing  these  evils 
endured  by  children,  breeds  a  feeling  which,  did  it  but 
get  vent,  would  heave  the  firmest  political  edifices  from 
their  foundations  : — but  the  writhings  of  tortured  hearts 
are  repressed,  diverted,  and  only  on  rare  occasions  burst 
forth  in  tumultuous  acts.  With  many,  indeed,  all  senti- 
ment and  moral  consciousness  gives  way  under  the  pres- 
sure of  woe  ;  or  is  dissipated  by  debauchery  : — the  soul 
sinks  even  below  the  wretchedness  of  the  body — 'hope,  the 
spring  of  life,  long  ago  took  her  flight,  and  is  totally  for- 
gotten— every  ember  of  joy  and  virtue  is  quenched." 

In  addition  to  the  above  causes  of  poverty,  are  those 
which  arise  from  the  attempt  of  such  numbers  in  every 
age,  to  support  themselves  without  being  occupied  at  all ; 
or,  if  at  all,  in  a  way  that  can  be  of  no  service  to  any  one. 
The  more  there  are  that  contrive  to  get  a  subsistence 
without  leaving  an  equivalent  in  the  hands  of  men,  or  do- 
ing any  thing  to  replace  the  value  which  they  take  from 
10 


110  UNEQUAL   DISTRIBUTION    OF    LABOR. 

the  aggregate  means  of  human  advantage,  the  poorer  the 
world  will  become.  This  will  appear  from  principles 
hereafter  established,  that  capital  consumed  unproductive- 
ly,  cannot  reappear ;  and  hence,  must  be  a  dead  loss  to 
the  world.  Those  who  live  thus,  a^e  leeches  upon  the 
body  politic,  drawing  blood  which  they  cannot  replace ; 
they  are  drones  in  the  hive  of  human  society,  whose  death 
would  improve  the  condition  of  survivors,  by  lightening 
them  of  an  oppressive  burden.  As  wealth  consists  in  the 
value  that  human  industry,  in  aid  and  furtherance  of  natu- 
ral agents,  communicates  to  things,  the  man  who  does  no- 
thing to  "  communicate  such  value,  must  of  course  live 
upon  the  unrequited  fruits  of  other  men's  industry."  * 

Another  consideration  that  deserves  notice,  is  the  un- 
equal distribution  of  labor  among  those  callings  which  are 
useful.  Too  many  devote  themselves  either  to  commer- 
cial, to  manufacturing,  or  to  agricultural  industry — or  sci- 
ence and  the  learned  professions,  but  more  generally  the 
profession  of  war,  are  pursued,  to  the  neglect  of  those 
callings  which  are  directly  concerned  in  taking  advantage 
of  natural  agents  to  communicate  value  to  things  ;  and  in 
this  way,  all  the  machinery  of  life  is  fettered,  and  multi- 
tudes suffer  as  a  consequence.  The  human  family,  in  re- 
gard to  the  means  of  wealth,  are  like  men  embarked  on 
board  of  an  open  boat,  over  all  the  parts  of  which  they 
must  be  judiciously  distributed,  so  as  to  keep  the  balance 
good,  or  they  will  be  in  danger  of  sinking.  God  has  so 
connected  the  useful  callings  with  each  other,  that  one  is 
mutually  dependent  on  another  for  its  success.     Of  what 

♦  Say,  p.  74. 


PRIMARY   SOURCES   OF   WEALTH.  Ill 

avail  would  it  be  to  embark  in  trade,  if  none  were  enga- 
ged  in  producing  the  crude  materials,  or  in  rearing  them 
up  into  a  condition  for  human  use,  those  sources  from 
which  trade  derives  all  its  commodities?  Or,  in  what 
way  would  posterity  be  qualified  for  these  occupations, 
unless  others  still  were  devoted  to  their  intellectual  and 
moral  cultivation  ?  Without  virtue,  where  would  be  that 
confidence  between  men,  which  is  essential  in  all  their 
dealings?  That  labor,  therefore,  which  is  directed  to  the 
tilling  of  the  ground,  or  to  the  mechanic  arts,  or  to  trade, 
or  to  the  cultivation  of  mind  and  morals,  or  to  any  thing 
else  which  is  useful,  puts  a  man  in  the  way  of  obtaining 
the  advantages  of  wealth,  in  the  most  consistent  manner 
possible,  by  performing  a  service  to  others  which  is 
equally,  or  much  more  valuable,  than  the  object  secured 
to  himself.  These  are  the  primary  sources  of  wealth, 
and  the  only  ones  from  which  it  can  be  obtained  without 
pecuniary  depreciation.*  There  is  no  danger  of  multi* 
plying  the  evils  of  poverty  by  enlisting  in  avocations  s,uch 
as  these,  except  it  be  by  pursuing  some  of  them  at  the  ex- 
pense of  others.  Hence,  the  existence  or  multiplication 
of  the  evils  of  poverty,  must,  in  ordinary  cases,  be  ac- 
counted for,  otherwise  than  by  ascribing  it  to  an  inherent 
deficiency  in  the  proceeds  of  virtuous  and  useful  industry. 
What  is  the  obvious  lesson  which  we  are  to  gather  from 
this  feature  in  our  earthly  condition  ?     Are  we  to  under- 

*  "  Objects  cannot  be  created  by  human  means;  nor  is  the  mass 
of  matter  of  which  this  globe  consists,  capable  of  increase  or  diminu- 
tion. All  that  man  can  do,  is  to  reproduce  existing  materials  under 
another  form,  which  may  give  them  a  utility  they  did  not  before  pos- 
sess, or  merely  enlarge  one  they  may  have  before  presented.  Pro- 
4uction  is  the  creation,  not  of  matter,  but  of  utility, — Say,  p.  66. 


112       OBJECT  OF  OUR  SUPERABUNDANCE. 

stand  that  God  intends  this  surplusage  to  be  expended 
upon  intemi)erance  and  licentiousness?  Is  it  provided 
that  we  nnay  hasten  our  exit  from  time  by  riot  and 
gluttony  ?  Or  that  we  may  enervate  the  powers  and 
corrupt  the  morals  of  our  children  by  bringing  them  up 
in  idleness,  or  by  furnishing  them  the  means  of  gaming 
and  dissipation  ?  Is  it  provided  to  hire  armies  to  ingulph 
the  world  in  war,  to  burn  our  cities,  to  devastate  our 
country,  and  to  fill  our  atmosphere  with  the  wailings  of 
sorrow  ?  Such  alas,  is  the  dismal  use  to  which  heaven's 
superabundance  has  been  often  converted  !  And  hence, 
it  has  proved  like  the  plague  that  was  visited  upon  a  re- 
bellious people,  the  means  of  converting  a  land  which 
was  as  the  garden  of  Eden,  into  a  desolate  wilderness.* 
And  the  observer,  who,  at  one  moment  gazed  with 
transport  upon  a  scene  blooming  with  beauty  and  abun- 
dance, under  a  smiling  providence,  has  at  the  next  beheld 
with  horror, 

*'  All  the  earth,  before  his  eye 
Drear  and  desolated  lie; 
Lances  bristle,  and  in  air 
Iron  harvests  waving  glare  ; 
Groans  are  uttered,  garments  torn, 
Women  o'er  the  slaughters  mourn."t 

Is  such,  O  blood-thirsty  man,  the  object  of  Heaven's 
superabundance  ?  If  so,  it  had  been  better,  that  he  had 
confined  the  products  of  thine  industry  within  the  bare 
limits  of  thine   indispensable  necessities;  that   so,   thou 

*  Joel  2,  3. 
.  i  Lycophron,  as  translated  in  Elton's  Extracts  from  Classic  Poets. 


DESIGNED   AS   A   PROVISION    OF   MERCY.  113 

mightest  have  had  neither  strength,  time,  nor  resources  to 
waste  upon  the  work  of  mutual  havoc  ! 

May  we  not  rather  conclude  that  God  has  provided  for 
this  excess  some  place  of  deposit,  where  it  may  diminish 
*he  woes  of  life,  and  swell  the  tide  of  human  happiness  ?  If 
there  were  no  sons  of  misfortune  to  claim  at  our  hands  the 
means  of  physical  support,  yet  the  millions  who  need 
books,  teachers,  and  other  means  of  moral  and  intellectual 
cultivation,  to  elevate  them  in  the  scale  of  being,  to 
acquaint  them  with  important  truth,  and  to  make  known 
to  them  the  way  of  salvation,  would  open  channels 
through  which  our  superabundance  might  flow,  to  bless 
and  beautify  the  soul  and  society  of  man. 

"  Not  to  the  skies  in  useless  columns  tost, 
Nor  in  proud  falls  magnificently  lost, 
But  clear  and  artless,  pouring  thro'  the  plain 
Health  to  the  sick,  and  solace  to  the  swain,"* 

If  every  man  were  to  husband  his  strength,  his  capital, 
and  all  his  means  of  wealth  in  the  best  possible  manner ; 
and  if  he  actually  had  an  overwhelming  income,  so  far 
from  its  being  necessary  for  him  to  run  into  extravagances 
in  order  to  dispose  of  it,  he  might  find,  in  furnishing  all  the 
children  of  the  earth  with  the  means  of  mental  and  moral 
cultivation,  in  multiplying  Bibles  and  other  books  of 
useful  knowledge,  to  the  full  extent  of  the  world's  demand  ; 
and  in  other  works  of  beneficence,  an  opening  for  his 
superabundance,  where  it  would  tell  gloriously  upon  the 
cause  of  God  and  the  interests  of  mankind.  And  whether 
God  intended  it  should  be  so  used,  or  thrown  away  upon 

*Pope. 
10* 


114  WHAT    IS    BEST    FOR    CHILDREN. 

our  lusts,  let  reason,  let  mercy,  yea,  let  conscience  in 
view  of  the  judgment,  decide  ! 

I  am  aware  that  the  opinion  more  generally  prevails, 
that  it  is  our  duty  to  lay  by  every  thing  beyond  a  supply 
for  our  immediate  wants,  as  a  legacy  for  our  children. 
To  amass  wealth  for  such  an  object  is  considered  by 
many,  as  among  the  first  of  parental  duties.  But,  why 
should  this  be  necessary,  when  it  will  remain  true  of  our 
children,  not  less  than  of  ourselves,  that  so  much  applica- 
tion to  business  as  their  health  and  advantage  require,  will 
give  them  the  same  superabundance,  without  our  help, 
that  many  of  us  have  acquired  without  the  help  of  our 
parents  ?  A  good  education,  with  business  habits,  will 
bring  them  a  competence  without  our  aid,  and  if  they 
have  not  these,  the  most  ample  legacy  would  fail  of  ma- 
king them  permanently  rich.  All  that  is  left  to  children, 
beyond  perhaps  a  moderate  provision  for  starting  them  in 
business,  serves  probably  in  nine  cases  out  of  ten,  to 
enervate  their  powers,  or  to  corrupt  their  morals.  Shall 
we,  therefore,  heap  up  the  shining  dust  to  debase,  corrupt, 
and  brutalize  our  descendants?  Shall  we  toil  through 
life,  to  supersede  that  economy  of  Heaven,  which  provides 
in  mercy,  that  man  shall  eat  his  bread  with  the  sweat  of 
his  face  ?  In  what  family  or  nation  have  not  large  ac- 
cumulations proved  ultimately  a  source  of  deterioration, 
infamy  and  ruin  ?  When  they  reach  the  zenith  of  world- 
ly prosperity,  so  that  they  feel  at  liberty  to  relax  the 
severity  of  their  efforts,  at  that  moment  their  decline  begins. 

This  is  true  of  the  four  great  monarchies  whose  exis- 
tence and  overthrow  occupy  so  large  a  space  in  the  his- 


FALL  OF  THE  FOUR  GREAT  MONARCHIES.      115 

tory  of  past  ages.  The  success  of  Ihe  golden  kingdom 
of  Babylon  in  subduing  the  neighboring  nations,  led  on  to 
the  indulgence  of  that  ease  and  luxury  which  paved  the 
way  for  its  own  downfall,  and  for  the  elevation  in  its  place 
of  a  more  rugged,  because  a  less  pampered  power.  The 
same  was  acted  over  in  its  successor  to  the  empire  of  the 
world.  An  age  or  two  of  luxury  was  sufficient  to  fatten 
Media  and  Persia  into  an  easy  prey  for  hardy  Macedon. 
Nor  could  Greece  long  withstand  the  wasting  plagues  of 
power  and  prosperity,  before  it  was  crumbled  down  by 
the  iron-handed  Roman.  Again,  Rome,  by  means  of  the 
wealth  that  conquest  poured  into  her  lap,  was  pampered 
into  an  easy  prey  for  Alaric  with  his  northern  hordes. 

Such  has  been  the  fate  of  man.  Of  all  his  enemies 
none  are  more  formidable  than  power,  ease  and  af- 
fluence. And  what  human  Rature  is  in  the  aggregate  of 
a  nation,  or  associated  nations,  it  is  in  famihes  and  individ- 
uals. Where  is  the  family  whom  wealth  has  not  ulti- 
mately injured  1  In  this  country,  where  estates  are  not 
secured  by  law  to  the  same  line  of  decendants,  they  are 
perpetually  changing  hands.  They  rarely  remain  long 
in  the  same  families.  '  The  sons  of  the  poor  oftener,  per- 
haps, rise  to  extensive  wealth,  than  those  of  the  rich. 
This  is  doubtless  owing  to  their  superior  enterprise.  Chil- 
dren bred  up  in  luxury  and  abundance,  rarely  acquire  the 
bravery  and  hardihood  which  are  demanded  for  noble 
deeds.  Nothing  but  the  spur  of  necessity — nothing  but 
the  exciting  influence  of  a  powerful  cause,  can  overcome 
our  natural  love  of  inertion,  and  put  the  mind  upon  the 
track  of  exalted  achievements. 


116  CHILDREN  TRAINED  TO  ACTION.     , 

With  these  facts  in  view,  can  any  one  suppose  that 
God  has  intended  the  superabundant  resuUs  of  our  indus- 
try as  a  legacy  for  our  children  ?  Can  he  regard  it  as  his 
duty  to  hoard  up  property  for  them,  when  all  experience 
teaches  us  that  they  are  better  without  than  with  it  ? 
That  parent  performs  the  best  service  for  his  children,  who 
leaves  with  them  such  a  knowledge  of  some  useful  call- 
ing, and  such  habits  of  application,  as  will  enable  them  to 
bestow  a  positive  benefit  upon  the  world,  that  shall  be 
equal,  or  more  than  equal,  to  all  that  they  need  for  their 
own  advantage.  There  are  great  and  glorious  plans  of 
improvement,  in  matter,  in  mind,  and  in  morals,  yet  to  be 
accomplished.  And  every  child  should  be  qualified,  not 
merely  to  eat,  drink,  and  enjoy  himself,  but  to  contribute  his 
share  to  the  accomplishment  of  these  plans.  And  if  he 
does  this,  the  reward,  of  which  he  will  not  be  likely  to 
fail,  will  be  sufficient  to  cover  all  his  wants.  It  is  beneath 
the  dignity  of  a  man,  yea,  it  is  contemptible,  to  live  for 
mere  enjoyment  in  a  world  where  so  much  requires  to  be 
done.  And  the  parent  who  labors  to  put  his  children  in 
a  condition  to  live  thus,  is  guilty  of  a  high-handed  crime 
against  their  interest  and  the  public  weal.  The  plea, 
therefore,  that  it  is  our  duty  to  lay  by  something  for  our 
children,  if  we  give  to  this  or  that  object  we  shall  rob  our 
families,  is  oftener  founded  in  covetousness,  or  in  ignorance 
of  the  great  laws  under  which  God  has  placed  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  world,  than  in  truth  and  necessity.  There 
may  be  some  exceptions  to  these  remarks,  as  when  our 
children  are  deprived  by  disease  or  otherwise,  of  their  or- 
dinary  faculties.     But  even  in  cases  like  these,  we  shall 


RUINED  BY  PATRIMONIES.  117 

suffer  nothing  by  laying  out  ourselves  for  the  service  of 
God  in  the  use  of  our  property.  Not  a  few  have  been 
able  to  say,  from  their  own  observation,  "  I  have  been 
young,  and  now  am  old  ;  yet  have  I  not  seen  the  righteous 
forsaken,  nor  his  seed  begging  bread."* 

Let  the  reader  revert  to  the  instances  within  his  own 
knowledge,  in  which  children  have  been  injured,  if  not 
ruined,  by  estates  which  their  parents  acquired  with  great 
care  and  labor.  How  frequently  have  we  seen  pride,  ex- 
travagance, dissipation,  and  even  high-handed  crime 
resulting  from  this  very  source !  Have  we  not  seen  enough 
to  make  us  dread  the  influence  upon  our  own  families,  of 
hoarding  up  riches  for  their  use  ?  Do  they  not  threaten, 
by  absorbing  our  chiFdren  in  the  cares  of  this  world,  to 
drown  them  in  destruction  and  perdition  ?  Who  of  us  can 
tell,  but  the  little  or  the  much  we  may  leave  behind  us,  will 
involve  our  families  in  angry  disputes,  while  our  blood  is 
scarcely  yet  cold  in  our  veins  ?  From  every  view,  there- 
fore, that  may  be  taken  of  this  subject,  it  must  clearly  ap- 
pear, that  the  superabundance  which  results  from  our  in- 
dustry, is  not  intended  to  produce  accumulations  for  pos- 
terity. 

For  what  then  could  it  have  been  designed,  but  as  a 
means  of  doing  good  to  the  bodies  and  souls  of  men  ? 
Though  it  may  do  injury  to  our  descendants,  it  can  do 
none,  if  we  employ  it  in  instructing  the  ignorant,  in  cir- 
culating the  Scriptures,  in  sending  pious  men  to  teach  the 
doctrines  of  the  cross  to  the  pagan  world,  in  mitigating  the 
woes  of  the  unfortunate,  and  in  benefiting,  by  various 
means,  the  men  of  our  own  generation. 
♦  Psalms  xxxviij  25. 


CHAPTER   VIII. 

Examination  of  the  question,  whether  unproductive  consumption  is 
necessary  to  keep  the  market  good. 

It  is  supposed  by  many  that  the  extravagances  into 
which  such  multitudes  are  betrayed  in  disposing  of  the  pro. 
ducts  of  industry,  are  necessary  to  its  encouragement ;  that 
if  all  were  to  confine  themselves  to  a  moderate  provision  of 
those  wants  which  belong  to  a  civilized  and  cultivated  state, 
the  market  would  be  glutted,  and  there  would  be  an  ab- 
solute stagnation  in  the  business- world.  Their  view  of 
the  subject  amounts  to  this,  that  since  Heaven  has  made 
the  results  of  human  labor  superabundant,  there  is  no 
other  way  of  disposing  of  them,  so  as  to  create  a  conti- 
nued market  to  producers,  but  by  indulging  in  the  gran- 
deur and  sumptuousness  of  living,  to  which  the  passions 
of  most  of  those  who  have  the  means  impel  them.  The 
vast  sums,  they  tell  us,  which  the  opulent  expend  upon 
their  persons,  furniture,  equipage,  and  style  of  living,  give 
business  to  a  great  number  of  laborers,  who  would  other- 
wise be  unoccupied.  These  laborers,  therefore,  are  enabled 
to  purchase  the  products  of  the  soil,  and  thus  to  afford 
encouragement  to  those  who  are  engaged  in  cultivating 
it  J  while  the  cultivator  reciprocates  the  favor  by  patron- 


120  GOLDEN  MEDIUM. 

izing  the  mechanic,  being  able  to  procure  naany  conveni- 
ences of  which  he  must  otherwise  have  been  deprived ; 
and  hence,  the  extravagances  of  the  opulent  are  supposed 
to  impart  a  healthy  movement  to  the  whole  machinery  of 
human  interests. 

As  this  subject  is  vital  to  the  temporal,  moral,  and 
eternal  well-being  of  millions,  we  deem  it  proper  to  give 
it  a  passing  attention,  especially  since,  if  the  above  rea- 
soning be  correct,  a  justification  might  be  found  for  ex- 
hausting the  whole  of  heave's  superabundance  upon  the 
means  of  opulence  and  pleasure.  We  have  already 
stated,  and  perhaps  it  is  unnecessary  to  repeat,  that  a  mo- 
derate provision  for  luxury  and  embellishment,  a  provision 
extending  far  beyond  the  bare  means  of  subsistence,  is 
necessary  and  proper.  No  one  could  desire  to  see  socie- 
ty reduced  to  the  condition  of  the  simple  children  of  na- 
ture, who  sip  their  drink  from  the  mountain  brooks,  who 
tear  their  meat  from  the  raw  carcass  of  the  transjEixed 
deer,  whose  only  shade  at  noon  is  the  thick  foliage  of  un- 
bounded forest,  and  whose  shelter  from  the  storm  is  the 
cave  of  the  earth,  or  the  crevice  of  towering  rocks.  Be- 
tween this  degraded  condition,  and  the  highest  extremes 
of  opulence,  there  is  a  golden  medium,  which  must  be  se- 
cured in  the  use  of  our  wealth,  if  we  would  obtain  from 
it  the  greatest  good  of  which  it  is  capable. 

We  may  lay  it  down  as  a  principle  to  guide  us  in  the 
pursuit  of  this  happy  medium,  that  all  consumption  of  va- 
lues which  has  no  reference,  neither  to  their  reproduction 
nor  to  the  supply  of  urgent  want,  is  a  dead  loss  to  the 
worlds 


fiVlLS  Of"  SUMPTirOirSNESS.  121 

Yea,  the  vice,  disease,  and  other  malignant  conse- 
quences which  result  from  such  consumption,  render  it 
tenfold  worse  than  the  simple  annihilation  of  value.  To 
want  the  means  of  gluttony  and  intemperance,  is  no  evil 
at  all,  compared  with  all  the  direful  plagues  with  which 
these  vices  are  visited  upon  the  body  and  the  soul. 

"O'er  the  dread  feast  malignant  Chemia  scowls, 
And  mingles  poison  with  ihe  nectar'd  bowls; 
Ffcll  Gout  I  eeps  grinning  through  the  flimsy  scene, 
And  bloated  Dropsy  pants  behind  unseen  ; 
"VVrapt  in  his  robes  white  Lepra  hides  his  stains, 
And  silent  Frenzy,  writhing,  bites  his  chains."* 

When  consumption,  however,  is  restricted  within  the 
bounds  of  temperance  and  propriety,  is  directed  to  the 
supply  of  urgent  want,  or  to  the  reproduction  of  value, 
so  far  from  being  lost,  it  accomplishes  the  purpose  for 
which  all  wealth  is  designed.  The  grain  which  is  used 
for  seed,  though  it  rots  in  the  ground,  is  not  lost,  because 
it  supplies  the  germ  of  the  future  harvest.  The  same  may 
be  said  of  all  consumption,  when  it  has  for  its  object  the 
reproduction  of  value.f 

Or,  if  its  object  be  to  prolong  the  life  of  a  cripple, 
or  to  supply  the  personal  wants  of  a  lunatic,  still  it  is  not 
lost,  although  it  is  connected  with  no  reproduction,  because 
the  human  preservation  which  it  effects,  is  an  ample  equi- 
valent  for  the  value  expended. 

"  But  what  is  there  to  compensate  the  mischief  where 
consumption  has  not  for  its  object  the  satisfaction  of  such 
wants? — where  money  is  spent  for  the  mere  sake  of 
spending,  and  the  value  destroyed  without  any  object  be. 
yond  its  destruction  ?"     Or  what  shall  we  say  of  those 

*  Darwin.  t  Say,  p.  410. 

11 


1225  ALL  Wealth  made  rsEPtt. 

consumptions  that  are  made  upon  objects,  which,  if  rata-? 
able  in  any  degree,  are  not  so  in  a  degree  proportioned  to 
the  Values  expended  upon  them  ?  To  take  a  strong  case, 
suppose  a  nobleman  expend  fifty  thousand  pounds  upon 
jewelry  to  adorn  his  own  person  and  that  of  his  lady— ^ 
now,  if  the  gratification  of  pride  or  other  passions  to  which 
he  ministers,  be  a  value,  still,  is  it  a  value  proportioned 
to  the  amount  expended  upon  it  ?  Just  so  far  as  it  is  not, 
the  consumption  is  unproductive.  If  that  gratification,  to 
persons  in  their  situation,  would  be  worth  one  thousand 
pounds,  and  no  more,  then,  in  paying  fifty  thousand  for  it, 
they  consume  forty-nine  thousand  pounds  unproductively. 
'I'his  may  be  taken  as  a  criterion  of  all  minor  cases. 
When  the  value  received  is  inferior  to  the  value  expend- 
ed, the  loss  is,  of  course,  equal  to  that  inferiority. 

Now,  the  question  is,  whether  such  consumptions  are 
necessary  to  keep  the  market  good  ;  or  whether  in  the 
end,  they  have  any  beneficial  influence  upon  the  market 
Whatever  1  The  question  really  amounts  to  this :  whe* 
ther  it  is  necessary  to  Waste  a  portion  of  the  precious 
gifts  of  heaven,  in  order  to  encourage  the  industry  by 
which  those  gifts  are  procured  1 

And  the  answer  turns  upon  the  decision  of  another 
question :  whether  there  are  not  ways  of  converting  all 
that  men  can  possibly  obtain  by  their  industry,  into  chan- 
nels of  usefulness  ?  If  all  the  wealth  which  they  are  ca- 
pable of  obtaining,  by  the  utmost  exertion  of  their  facul- 
ties, can  be  thus  employed,  then  the  double  object  may  be 
secured,  of  consuming  it  all  productively,  and  of  affording 
every  necessary  encouragement  to  industry  at  the  sanr>€f 


ACfQTJISITIONS   IN   SCIENCE — NEWTON,  123 

ilme.  And  so,  unproductive  consumption  would  not  be 
necessary  to  create  a  market. 

On  this  point  there  can  be  no  doubt.  If  man  were 
only  a  physical  being,  and  incapable  of  any  other  good 
than  what  he  enjoys  in  common  with  the  beasts  that  per- 
ish, then  we  grant,  that  unproductive  consumption  might 
be  necessary  to  keep  the  market  good.  But,  as  intellec- 
tual and  moral  advantages  possess  a  value  to  him  far 
above  those  which  belong  to  his  animal  nature,  and  a« 
his  surplus  treasures  may  be  employed  in  securing  to  him- 
self and  others  those  advantages,  he  can  be  under  no  neces- 
sity of  wasting  them,  to  secure  the  business  world  against 
the  evils  of  plethory  and  stagnation.  Nothing  is  more 
conducive  to  the  interests  of  human  life,  than  that  the 
means  of  intellectual  and  moral  cultivation  be  abundant, 
and  that  as  large  a  share  of  the  industry  of  man  be  directed 
to  this  point  as  possible. 

What  vast  acquisitions  in  science  have  been  made  by 
means  of  those  provisions  of  temporal  support,  which, 
tinder  the  institutions  of  the  old  world,  have  been  supplied 
to  the  more  gifted  minds  !  The  wealth  expended  in  this 
way,  so  far  from  being  unproductive,  has  brought  a  thou- 
sand fold-  Who  can  compute  the  gain  to  human  nature 
of  those  discoveries,  which  Newton's  opportunities  of  lei- 
sure from  physical  labor,  enabled  him  to  make  ?  They 
have  given  a  new  impulse  to  mind  itself,  while  at  the  same 
time,  they  have  spread  out  through  all  the  departments  of 
industry,  new  facilities  even  for  the  acquisition  of  wealth. 
The  same  results  also  have  followed  from  the  chemical 
discoveries  of  Sir  Humphrey  Davy,  and  from  the  learned 


124  ALLEVIAIION    OF    WO ^aWAR^^, 

labors  of  many  others.  Now,  no  such  discoveries  could 
be  made  among  a  people,  if  they  inhabited  a  region  so 
sterile  as  to  require  all  their  labor  in  procuring  the  bare 
means  of  a  physical  subsistence,  or  if  they  should  waste 
the  surplus  stores  of  a  productive  land,  upon  useless  or 
pernicious  modes  of  expenditure.  And  if  the  wealth 
which  has  actually  been  consumed  upon  intellectual  labor, 
has  been  followed  with  a  certain  amount  of  good,  on  the 
same  principle,  the  consumption  of  more  in  this  way, 
would  be  followed  by  still  more  good.  No  limit  can  be 
assigned  to  intellectual  achievement.  The  fields  of  know- 
ledge are  ample,  and  mind  is  gifted  with  amazing  powers 
of  growth  and  extension.  Hence,  it  can  never  be  neces- 
sary that  property  should  be  wasted  in  order  to  create  a 
market. 

And  were  there  any  danger  on  this  point,  it  would  be 
obviated  by  the  many  ways  in  which  wealth  may  be  made 
conducive  to  the  alleviation  of  human  wo,  and  to  moral 
improvement.  Who  can  compute  the  increase  of  virtue 
and  happiness  which  has  resulted  from  the  labor  and 
wealth  which  Howard  expended  upon  the  miserable 
tenants  of  the  dungeon  and  the  hospital  ?  *'  His  plan," 
observes  Burke  in  his  eulogium,  "  was  original ;  and  it  is 
as  full  of  genius  as  humanity.  It  was  a  voyage  of  disco- 
very ;  a  circumnavigation  of  charity.  Already  the  bene- 
fit of  his  labor  is  felt,  more  or  less,  in  every  country.  I 
hope  he  will  anticipate  his  final  reward,  by  seeing  its  effects 
fully  realized  in  his  own.  He  will  receive,  not  by  retail, 
but  in  gross,  the  reward  of  those  who  visit  the  prisoner, 
and  he  has  so  forestalled  and  monopolized  this  branch  of 


MARKET  RUINED    BY   WASTE.  125 

cliarity,  that  there  will  bo,  I  trust,  little  room  to  merit  by- 
such  acts  of  benevolence  hereafter."  Who  will  pretend 
that  the  wealth  consumed  by  Howard  upon  this  godlike 
work  was  unproductive  ?  The  comfort,  instruction,  and 
sympathy,  which  he  poured  in  upon  the  most  dismal 
abodes  of  human  life — abodes  from  which  mercy  had  be- 
fore been  debarred,  were  a  value  which  money  cannot 
compute.  Had  business  men  the  spirit  of  Howard — did 
they  look  abroad  upon  the  ten  thousand  opportunities  of 
mitigating  the  sufferings,  of  dissipating  the  ignorance,  and 
of  correcting  the  waywardness,  of  fallen  human  nature, 
they  would  no  longer  be  at  a  loss  for  the  means  of  creating 
a  market  to  producers.  They  would  be  in  no  further 
danger  of  falling  into  the  monstrous  error  of  supposing, 
that  products  must  be  wasted,  or  what  is  little  better,  must 
be  expended  upon  extravagances^  in  order  to  afford  pro- 
per encouragement  to  industry. 

Having  thus  shown  that  there  are  ways  enough  of 
employing  the  products  of  industry,  so  as  to  keep  up  a 
healthy  circulation  in  the  business  world,  without  expend, 
ing  them  unproductively,  we  come  now  to  show  that 
such  expenditure  has  a  tendency  to  depress^  and  in  the  end, 
to  ruin  the  market.  If  the  whole  value  in  the  hands  of 
men  be  regarded  in  the  aggregate,  as  a  great  fountain 
from  which  all  are  to  take  their  appropriate  share  of 
good,  and  one  portion  of  them  who  have  the  power  draw 
off  a  third  or  half  of  this  amount  and  throw  it  away,  who 
cannot  perceive  that  the  loss  to  the  whole  is  equal  to  that 
waste  ?  It  matters  not  that  those  who  effect  this  waste 
pay  for  it, — this  cannot  make  up  for  the  waste  itself.  As 
XI* 


126  COMPLEXITY    OF    THE   SUBJECT. 

well  may  we  take  water  from  one  of  the  pipes  of  a  fouir- 
tain,  to  make  up  for  the  loss  which  another  pipe  of  the 
same  fountain  sustains.  For  the  money  or  value  which 
these  men  pay  for  what  they  waste,  from  this  aggregate 
amount  of  the  means  of  good,  is  a  part  of  that  amount 
itself,  as  much  as  what  they  wasted  was  a  part  of  that 
amount.  Hence,  it  cannot  make  up  for  the  diminution  ; 
and  so  every  unproductive  consumption  is  a  dead  loss  to 
the  world. 

But  the  reason  why  it  is  not  felt  to  be  such,  when  it  is 
effected  by  the  consumer,  and  not  by  the  producer,  is 
owing  to  the  com.plexity  of  the  subject,  and  the  short- 
sightedness of  men.  The  producer  gets  his  pay,  and  a 
more  ready  market  is  perhaps  opened  for  his  future  pro- 
ducts ;  and  thus  he  is  deluded  into  the  belief  that  all  is 
going  on  well.  Whereas,  those  who  have  effected  such 
consumption,  will  either  deprive  themselves  of  the  ability 
to  purchase  his  future  products,  or  if  they  contrive  to  re- 
tain that  abihty,  it  must  be  by  robbing  society  at  some 
other  point.  And  thus,  in  one  way  or  another  every  use- 
less consumption  of  wealth,  will  bear  heavily  upon  the 
interests  of  human  life.  If  the  chain  is  broken,  it  matters 
not  whether  it  be  in  the  first  or  ten  thousandth  link. 

To  illustrate  this  subject,  suppose  every  wheat-grow- 
er, immediately  upon  harvesting  his  crop,  should  consume 
in  the  fire  three-quarters  of  it,  how  would  all  exclaim 
against  such  a  wanton  waste  of  the  means  of  subsistence ! 
But  if  these  wheat-growers  should  sell  their  wheat  to  capi- 
tahsts,  for  its  full  value  in  cash,  and  they  should  consume 
three-fourths  of  it  in  the  fire,  the  growers  of  it  would  per- 


FOOLISH   REASONING — WHEAT-GROWERS.  127 

haps  congratulate  themselves  upon  th.  '  ^x-J  ibrl^ne. 
But  how  fallacious  would  be  their  reasonings  nd  Uieir 
hopes !  Would  not  the  number  of  families  deprived  of 
wheat  be  as  great,  as  if  it  were  burnt  by  their  own  hands  ? 
And  this  deprivation  is  effected  in  a  way,  too,  that  must 
in  the  end,  injure  the  market  for  wheat.  For  these  capi- 
talists, in  addition  to  directly  withdrawing  from  multitudes 
the  means  of  comfort  and  subsistence,  have  deprived  them 
of  all  the  business  that  would  have  resulted  from  a  pro- 
ductive investment  of  the  capital  thrown  away.  Hence, 
while  on  the  one  hand,  the  destruction  of  the  wheat  has 
raised  its  price  above  the  ability  of  many  to  purchase,  the 
waste  of  capital  has,  on  the  other,  deprived  many  of  their 
only  opportunity  to  earn  the  means  of  purchasing  it. 
Thus,  the  evil  operates  both  ways. 

And  besides  all  this,  these  same  men  who  have  thus 
suffered,  must  be  made,  by  some  refined  system  of  rob- 
bery, to  supply  the  means  of  repeating  a  similar  destruc- 
tion of  wheat,  on  succeeding  years,  or  these  capitalists 
would  not  be  able  to  pay  its  price.  For,  when  capital  is 
annihilated  at  one  point,  its  place  cannot  be  supplied  with- 
out withdrawing  it  from  other  points,  or  advancing  upon 
the  value  of  what  remains.  A  fountain  would  soon  be 
exhausted,  unless  the  stream  flowing  in  were  equal  to  the 
one  flowing  out.  If,  for  instance,  a  certain  number  of 
capitalists  should  waste  upon  the  destruction  of  wheat,  in 
the  manner  we  have  supposed,  five  million  dollars,  they 
must  either  suffer  loss  to  that  full  amount,  and  in  this  way 
soon  deprive  themselves  of  the  ability  to  make  market  for 
wheat ;  or  else  they  must  contrive,  by  advancing  on  other 


128  REFINED  SYSTEM  OF  ROBBERY. 

investments,  to  cover  the  loss.  If  merchants,  they  must 
advance  on  the  price  of  goods — if  landlords,  on  the 
price  of  rents — or  if  their  estates  are  in  funds,  they  must 
advance  on  the  price  of  loans.  But  from  whom  is  this 
advanced  price  to  come,  but  from  the  people  at  large  ? 
They  are  the  purchasers  of  their  merchandise  ;  they  pay 
the  original  profits  on  rents  and  loans ;  and  they  pay  the 
advance  to  cover  the  supposed  loss.  The  draught  touches 
every  man's  purse,  over  the  whole  extent  of  country  to 
which  this  capital  or  these  business  transactions  reach. 
Hence,  the  same  persons,  who  suffered  from  the  increased 
price  of  wheat,  and  from  the  loss  of  business,  are  the 
ones  to  supply  the  money,  to  repeat  the  work  of  destruc- 
tion, or  it  could  not  be  carried  on !  Now,  who  does  not  see 
that  a  process  like  this  must  derange  all  the  interests  of 
human  society,  and  in  the  end,  ruin  the  market,  which,  at 
a  first  view,  it  might  be  supposed  to  improve?  And  yet, 
much  of  what  is  considered  necessary  to  keep  the  wheels 
of  business  in  motion,  is  based  in  precisely  the  same  prin- 
ciples with  the  above  process. 

Let  us  suppose  that  these  five  millions  of  capital,  in- 
stead of  being  destroyed  outright,  had  been  expended  upon 
costly  diamonds,  to  adorn  the  persons  of  its  owners ;  or 
upon  any  thing  else  of  no  greater  importance  to  the  hap- 
piness of  human  life.  How  much  more  would  be  gained 
by  such  a  use  of  it,  than  by  burning  it  up?  The  labor  of 
miners,  of  merchants,  of  jewellers,  and  artists  in  furnish, 
ing  and  preparing  the  diamonds,  would  answer  perhaps  to 
be  set  off  against  the  labor  of  the  wheat  growers,  only  the 
greater  number  would  probably  find  employ  in  the  latter, 


POVERTY  MADE  POORER.  129 

than  the  former  business.  All  that  diamonds  upon  the 
person  can  accomplish,  over  burning  grain,  is  to  gratify 
a  useless  and  absurd  fondness  for  show.  And  we  might 
include  in  this  remark,  every  thing  beyond  a  moderate 
provision  for  the  wants  which  belong  to  a  civilized  and 
cultivated  state.  The  means  of  procuring  such  extrava- 
gances come  from  the  same  source  as  in  the  supposed 
case — the  people  at  large.  They  suffer  for  want  of  the 
business  that  the  capital  thus  expended  might  furnish,  and 
they  pay  the  advanced  price  on  merchandise,  rents,  or 
loans,  by  which  those  who  are  guilty  of  this  waste  con- 
trive to  make  up  the  deficiency. 

Thus,  poverty  is  reduced  to  a  condition  of  still  great- 
er destitution^  whll©  the  nV.h  gain  in  reality  little  more 
than  by  an  absolute  destruction  of  values.  To  enable  a 
few  men  to  waste  upon  their  furniture,  equipage,  persons, 
and  upon  sumptuous  living,  five  millions  of  capital,  thou- 
sands must  be  deprived  of  business,  or  compelled  to  pay 
such  an  advance  of  rent,  interest,  taxes,  or  profits  on 
merchandise,  as  would  disqualify  them  to  furnish  their  ta- 
bles with  wheat  and  many  other  means  of  comfort,  and  so 
there  would  not  be  one  purchaser  of  these  articles  per- 
haps, where  there  would  be  ten,  if  this  capital  were  turn- 
ed into  productive  channels.  "  It  is  vain,"  observes  an 
able  writer,  "  to  resist  the  nature  of  things.  Magnifi- 
cence  may  do  what  it  will  to  keep  poverty  out  of  sight, 
yet  it  will  cross  it  at  every  turn,  still  haunting,  as  if  to  re- 
proach it  for  its  excesses.  This  contrast  was  to  be  met 
with  at  Versailles,  at  Rome,  at  Madrid,  and  at  every  seat 
of  royal  residence."     Yea,  the  universal  state  of  things 


130  APPEARANCES   DECEITFUL. 

under  the  monarchies  of  the  old  world,  where  the  struc 
ture  of  society  is  such  as  to  favor  the  few  at  the  expense 
of  the  many,  adds  complete  demonstration  to  the  princi- 
ple, that  unproductive  consumption  is  a  dead  loss,  and 
must  bear  heavily,  if  not  immediately  upon  those  who  are 
guilty  of  it,  upon  the  mass  of  society,  who  are  always 
least  able  to  sustain  the  burden.  By  disqualifying 
them  to  purchase  many  means  of  comfort  and  improve- 
ment, which  would  otherwise  lie  within  their  reach,  and 
by  thus  sinking  them  lower  in  the  scale  of  virtue,  of 
knowledge,  and  enjoyment,  it  injures  the  market,  it  multi- 
plies the  number  of  paupers,  mendicants,  and  criminals, 
and  so  weighs  heavily  upon  the  aggregate  of  human  in- 
terests. 

"  Those  who  are  little  in  the  habit  of  looking  through 
the  appearance  to  the  reality  of  things,  are  apt  to  be  se^ 
duced  by  the  glitter  and  bustle  of  ostentatious  luxury. 
They  take  the  display  of  consumption  as  conclusive  evi- 
dence of  national  prosperity.  If  they  could  open  their 
eyes  they  would  see,  that  a  nation  verging  towards  de» 
cline  will,  for  some  time,  continue  to  preserve  a  show  of 
opulence,  like  the  establishment  of  the  spend-thrift  on  the 
high  road  to  ruin.  But  this  false  glare  cannot  last  long ; 
the  effort  dries  up  the  sources  of  reproduction,  and,  there- 
fore,  must  infallibly  be  followed  by  a  state  of  apathy  and 
exhaustion  of  the  political  frame,  which  is  only  to  be  re- 
medied by  slow  degrees,  and  by  the  adoption  of  a  regi- 
men the  very  reverse  of  that  by  which  it  has  thus  been 
reduced.  The  number  who  have  sufficient  spirit  and  in- 
dependence of  fortune  to  submit  to  such  a  regimen,  is  ex- 


(iOOD  fOLICY  IS  THE  LAW  OF  THE  CHl/RCH.  ISI 

tremely  small.  Most  men  yield  to  the  torrent,  and  rush 
upon  ruin  with  their  eyes  open,  in  search  of  happiness  i 
although  it  requires  a  very  little  share  of  philosophy  to 
perceive,  that,  when  once  the  common  wants  of  our  na« 
ture  are  satisfied,  happiness  is  to  be  foUnd^  not  in  the  fri- 
volous enjoyments  of  luxurious  vanity,  but  in  the  mode- 
rate exercise  of  our  physical  and  moral  faculties."* 
Now,  these  principles  of  action,  which  can  be  shown  to 
be  a  matter  of  policy  to  any  people,  have  the  force  of 
law  upon  the  Christian  church.  She  is  required  by  the 
articles  of  her  constitution,  to  use  the  world  as  not  abus^ 
ing  it,  and  to  take  the  lead  in  those  plans  for  appropria- 
ting earthly  treasure  which  have  a  tendency  to  produce 
the  fewest  evils,  and  the  greatest  possible  amount  of  en- 
joyment. To  allow  herself  to  be  drawn  away  by  custom^ 
to  such  a  disposal  of  it  as  must  infalhbly  leave  a  large 
portion  of  the  human  family  without  the  means  of  supply.* 
ing  their  wants,  or  even  of  providing  themselves  with  that 
moral  and  intellectual  cultivation  in  which  the  true  digni^ 
ty  of  our  nature  consists,  is  to  compromise  principles  which 
are  at  the  basis  of  her  constitution,  and  which  she  is  so^ 
lemnly  bound  to  preserve  inviolable. 

The  superficial  view  which  we  have  taken  of  thi^ 
subject,  is  sufficient,  we  think,  to  show  the  fallacy  of  sup- 
posing that  men  must  run  into  extravagances,  in  order  to 
create  a  market  for  the  products  of  industry.  The  capi- 
tal expended  in  this  way,  if  it  were  productively  invested, 
would  give  to  thousands  a  business  from  which  they  might 

♦  Say,  p.  413* 


W^ 


1§^ 

acquire  the  means  of  being  purchasers,  and  so  a  market 
would  be  created  on  principles  that  would  swell  the  tide 
of  human  enjoyment.  And  thus,  it  would  leave  in  the 
hands  of  each  still  more  to  bestow  upon  the  general  im- 
provement of  man  in  mind  and  morals.  The  capital  now 
lying  dead  about  the  persons  of  the  opulent,  or  wasted 
upon  high  living,  or  otherwise  abstracted  from  human  use, 
if  put  into  circulation,  would  vastly  increase  the  means  of 
production,  and  in  this  way  would  raise  the  mass  of  soci- 
ety to  higher  degrees  of  enjoyment,  would  furnish  a 
much  greater  amount  of  leisure  for  the  cultivation  of 
those  qualities  in  which  the  true  dignity  of  man  consists, 
and  thus  would  open  to  millions,  now  overborne  by  the 
pressure  of  their  physical  condition,  the  high  road  to  use- 
ful and  exalted  achievement.  Who  can  compute  the 
amount  of  capital  which  men  contrive  in  various  ways  to 
take  out  of  the  market  ? 

In  the  constitution  of  the  world,  God  has  exercised  a 
peculiar  jealousy  over  the  interests  of  mind  and  morals. 
Did  we  duly  improve  the  physical  advantages  which  he 
has  put  within  our  reach,  more  than  one  half  of  the  aggre- 
gate capacity  for  industry  and  application  at  our  com- 
mand, might  be  devoted  to  those  interests.  A  large 
proportion  of  the  human  family  might  give  up  their  whole 
attention  to  the  cultivation  of  the  rest,  or  to  extending  the 
precints  of  knowledge  and  virtue,  while  the  others,  in  ad- 
dition  to  furnishing  the  first  with  the  means  of  physical 
support,  might  have  ample  leisure  to  raise  themselves  to 
an  enviable  distinction  in  knowledge  and  goodness. 
Every  provision  might  be  made  to  mitigate  the  unavoida- 


MILLENltM    KEPT    BACK.  133 

ble  evils  of  our  condition,  and  thus  truth,  virtue,  intelli* 
gence,  and  happiness,  might  become  universally  ascendant 
on  earth.  And  hence,  we  see  among  the  physical 
elements  of  this  world,  the  possibility  of  such  a  milienium 
of  rest  and  glory,  as  in  the  visions  of  prophecy  is  unfolded 
to  the  hopes  of  man.  No  single  thing  perhaps  does  more 
to  keep  back  this  age  of  unmixed  light,  prosperity,  and 
virtue,  than  the  passions,  habitS;,  and  sentiments  that  take 
their  rise  from  the  possessions  of  this  world.  Reason  on 
this  point  is  obscured  or  not  obeyed,  and  consequently 

-^ .— .^ — . '  Inordinate  desires 


And  upstart  passions  catch  the  government 
From  reason,  and  to  servitude  reduce 
Man,  till  then  free^'* 

The  leisure  which  the  extreme  productiveness  of  Indus-- 
try  affords,  is  converted  into  pastime  and  folly,  or  what  is 
worse,  into  an  occasion  for  working  all  kinds  of  wicked* 
ness.  The  surplus  stores  of  a  bountiful  Providence,  it  is 
thought  necessary,  even  by  good  men,  to  employ  upon 
costly  equipage  and  sumptuous  living ;  and  thus,  the  culti^ 
vations  of  mind,  the  improvements  in  morals,  and  the 
alleviations  of  suffering  to  which  they  might  minister  are 
not  secured,  but  in  the  place  of  them,  there  exist  among 
one  class,  the  vices  and  miseries  of  overloaded  abundance, 
and  among  another,  the  crimes  and  complicated  evils 
which  result  from  ignorance,  corrupt  example,  and  abject 
destitution. 

*  Milton. 
12 


CHAPTER    IX. 


Alarming  consequences  of  having  a  passion  for  wealth  become 
predominant— Necessity  of  that  restraint  upon  this  passion  which 
arises  from  the  habitual  bestowment  of  charitable  gratuities.— Life 
and  death  of  Mr.  James  Harding,  of . 

'I  give  and  I  devise,'  old  Euclio  said, 

And  sigh'd,  '  my  lands  and  tenements  to  Ned,' 

*  Your  money.  Sir  7'—'  My  money,  Sir,  what  all "?,, 

Why,— if  I  must'— then  wept,  '  I  give  it  Paul.' 

'  The  manor,  Sir  7'     '  The  manor  !  hold,'  he  cried, 

'  Not  that,— I  cannot  part  with  that,'— and  died. 

Pope. 

The  principles  of  our  own  nature  impelling  us  to  the 
practice  of  beneficence,  which  we  have  already  noticed, 
are  no  more  cogent  in  their  enforcement  of  that  duty, 
than  the  consequences  upon  ourselves  of  not  allowing  them 
suitable  play.  We  never  restrain  our  humane  sympa- 
thies, from  a  dread  of  the  expense  of  indulging  them, 
when  our  enjoyment  from  the  objects  of  this  world  does 
not  suffer  in  the  same  proportion.  God  has  placed  in 
our  bosom  a  law,  which  suspends  the  measure  of  our  en- 
joyment from  those  objects,  upon  the  degree  of  interest 
we  feel  to  have  others  share  with  us,  insomuch  that  when 
that  interest  is  annihilated,  our  worldly  possessions  lose 
the  power  of  doing  us  any  good ;  and  we  become  sordid 
vipers  crawling  in  the  dirt,  and  hissing  at  all  we  meet. 


136  LIFE    AND    DEATH    OF    MR.    HARDING. 

Did  those  who  are  engaged  in  the  eager  pursuit  of  gain 
understand  their  own  natures,  could  they  see  the  effect 
upon  their  moral  habits  of  having  their  eye  exclusively 
fixed  upon  their  object,  and  of  nourishing  the  selfish 
emotions  to  the  exclusion  of  those  which  impel  them  to 
take  an  interest  in  the  happiness  of  others,  they  would  feel 
a  horror  at  their  situation,  scarcely  less,  than  as  if  they 
stood  with  a  blazing  torch  in  the  midst  of  a  magazine  of 
powder.  The  love  of  money,  when  it  has  reached  a 
certain  pitch,  leaves  the  character  a  total  wreck,  and  be-  • 
comes  to  itself  a  source  of  fearful  retribution.  The  penal 
inflictions  which  follow  from  violating  the  law  of  bene- 
ficence in  our  own  constitution,  eU'c  more  to  be  dreaded 
than  all  that  group  of  haggard  evils  which  follow  in  the 
train  of  abject  destitution.  The  fate  of  the  poor  man, 
who  retains  the  social  sympathies  is  enviable,  compared 
with  that  of  the  rich  miser. 

The  admonitions  to  the  duty  in  question  which  arise 
from  this  quarter,  cannot  be  better  exhibited,  perhaps,  than 
by  presenting  a  short  sketch  of  the  life  and  death  of  a 
man  by  the  name  of  James   Harding,    who  had  been 

many  years  a  merchant  in  the  city  of ,  but  who 

spent  a  few  of  the  last  years  of  his  life  on  a  retired  farm 

near  the  village  of .      He  was  a  man  in  single 

life,  having  refrained  from  marriage  to  avoid  the  expense 
of  supporting  a  family.  Being  of  an  enterprising  turn, 
he  had  declined  in  his  youth  the  proffered  assistance  of  his 
friends  to  start  him  in  business,  preferring  to  lay  the 
foundation  of  his  own  fortune,  and  had  embarked  in  com- 


LIFE    AND    DEATH  OF  MR.    HARDING.  i37 

mercial  speculations,  in  which  he  was  soon  crowned  with 
unexampled  success.  To  save  money  he  lived  by  him- 
self, having  a  single  domestic  to  attend  to  his  few  and 
simple  wants  ;  and  in  this  situation,  he  had  passed  more 
than  forty  years  of  his  truly  self-denying  life.  He  allowed 
himself  no  more  intercourse  with  men  than  his  money- 
making  schemes  rendered  necessary  ;  and  even  this  little 
was  like  the  contact  of  flint  with  steel,  throwing  out  in 
every  direction  the  sparks  of  angry  passions.  His 
hatred  of  men  was  owing  in  part  to  the  heavy  losses  which 
he  had  experienced  by  their  treachery,  a  subject  to  which 
he  could  never  allude  without  betraying  a  wildness  of 
manner,  which  but  too  clearly  indicated  the  shattered 
state  of  his  mind.  He  would  approach  this  part  of  his 
history,  much  as  we  should  suppose  a  man  would  the 
edge  of  a  precipice,  from  which  his  wife  and  children  had 
been  plunged  into  the  arms  of  death  below.  These  losses, 
together  with  his  natural  propensity  for  hoarding,  had 
perhaps  about  equally  divided  between  them  the  influence 
under  which  his  character  had  been  moulded  into  the 
incurable  habits  of  a  miser. 

From  having  long  restricted  himself  within  the  limits 
of  personal  comfort,  to  repair  his  losses  and  accumulate 
wealth,  he  continued  to  do  so  after  his  income  was  a 
hundred  times  greater  than  his  expenditures.  Indeed,  he 
had  come  to  be  one  of  that  class  whose  desire  of  gold  is 
entirely  independent  of  the  comforts,  honors,  pleasures, 
or  other  advantages  which  it  may  procure  :  for  as  to  com- 
forts, he  allowed  himself  none  ;  as  to  honor,  he  cared  not  a 

*13 


138  LIFE    AND    DEATH  OF  MR.    HAI^DING. 

farthing  what  the  world  thought  of  him  ;  and  of  pleasure 
he  was  the  mortal  enemy.  His  character  afforded  de- 
monstration to  the  doctrine,  that  a  love  of  hoarding  is  a 
primary  element  of  our  nature  ;  for  it  was  only  on  this 
principle  that  such  a  mysterious  anomaly  of  human  ex- 
istence could  be  explained. 

What  rendered  him  still  more  mysterious  was,  that  he 
should  have  been  from  early  life  a  member  of  the  church, 
a  firm  believer  of  evangelical  doctrines,  and  fond  of 
reading  prolix  works  of  divinity,  especially  if  well  spiced 
with  those  ultra  views  which  lie  in  the  neighborhood  of 
antinomianism.  No  man  advocated  the  necessity  of  the 
Spirit's  influences  in  regeneration  more  strongly  than  he, 
said  more  in  favor  of  experimental  religion,  or  even  de- 
vised more  plans  of  doing  good.  He  had  been  calculating 
many  years  to  support  a  minister  from  his  own  resources, 
(for  it  had  pleased  God  he  said  to  give  him  enough,)  and 
was  only  prevented  by  his  inability  to  find  one  in  his 
estimation  deserving  of  a  support.  It  was  easy  to  per- 
ceive, however,  that  these  remaining  elements  of  religion 
were  the  result  of  a  disturbed  conscience,  the  fear  of 
death,  or  rather  the  apprehension  of  being  torn  from  his 
immense  treasures.     He  was  one  of  those  who  think, 

'  When  queasy  conscience  has  it  qualms, 
To  lull  the  painful  malady  with  alms.'* 

These  circumstances  kept  alive  the  dying  embers  of 
religion  so  far  as  to  make  him  miserable,  and  lead  him  to, 

'^  Cowper. 


LIFE    AND    DEATH  OF  MR.    HARDING.  139 

form  resolution  after  resolution  of  devoting  a  portion  of 
his  money  to  the  cause  of  God. 

But  his  benevolence  evaporated  in  mere  resolutions ; 
for,  when  the  crisis  for  acting  came,  his  money  was  always 
wanting.  Indeed,  it  was  impossible  to  approach  him  or 
treat  him  with  ordinary  civility,  without  awakening  his 
suspicion  that  you  had  some  design  upon  his  purse  ;  and 
the  agents  of  charitable  institutions  were  objects  of  his 
implacable  disgust. 

A  little  incident  occurred  soon  after  he  went  upon  his 
farm,  that  may  serve  to  illustrate  the  peculiar  feehngs  of 
the  man.  The  Christian  friends  in  the  neighborhood,  not 
fully  understanding  his  character,  took  the  liberty,  in  one 
of  those  interviews  which  were  common  among  them,  to 
invite  Mr.  Harding.  And  as  he  had  long  been  in  the  fruit- 
less  search  of  what  he  called  congenial  spirits,  and  think- 
ing that  he  might,  perhaps,  find  them  among  his  new 
neighbors,  he  so  far  departed  from  his  usual  course  as 
comply  with  the  invitation.  They  were  accustomed  in 
these  interviews  to  appoint  a  chairman,  and  proceed  re- 
gularly to  the  discussion  of  some  doctrine  or  duty  for 
their  mutual  instruction.  It  so  happened  on  this  occasion, 
that  the  subject  under  discussion  was  the  duty  of  Christians 
in  regard  to  the  use  of  money.  Mr,  Harding  had  not  long 
listened  to  the  discussion,  before  he  became  suspicious 
that  it  was  all  a  contrived  plan  to  extort  from  him  his  mo- 
ney ;  when,  his  feelings  taking  fire,  he  sprang  upon  his 
feet,  poised  one  elbow  upon  a  piece  of  furniture,  and  with 
B.  demeanor  peculiar  to  himself,  which  cannot  be  better 


140        LIFE  AND  DEATH  OF  ME.  HARDING. 

described  than  by  comparing  it  to  the  motions  of  a  beast 
of  prey  about  to  pounce  upon  its  victim,  he  began  with 
one  or  two  abortiveattempts  at  articulation.  *Y-a — y-a — 
yes,  I  see  who  I  am  with — priestridden,  deluded  men ;  I 
see  vvhat  you  want.  Like  children,  you  put  your  hands 
over  your  eyes,  and  then  think  nobody  can  see  you  ;  you 
did'nt  know  that  I  could  see  you  through  and  through, 
did  ye  ?  You  have  contrived  a  fine  plan  to  get  my  mo- 
ney— ah  !  But  I  can  assure  you,  you  will  leave  off  where 
you  begun.' 

This  unmanly  insinuation,  the  chairman  of  the  meet- 
ing, who  was  chiefly  concerned  in  inviting  him,  would 
have  resented,  but  for  his  fear  of  interrupting  the  course 
of  the  discussion.  He,  therefore,  simply  said,  that  he 
knew  himself  to  be  the  only  one  on  whom  such  a  suspi- 
cion could  fall,  as  he  had  invited  the  attendance  of  Mr. 
Harding,  and  he  hoped,  therefore,  the  rest  of  the  gentle- 
men would  feel  themselves  exonerated  from  it.  *  And  as 
to  myself,'  he  added,  *  confident  that  my  friends  present 
and  the  world  know  me  to  be  incapable  of  so  mean  an 
action,  I  shall  say  no  more.' 

But  Mr.  Harding  having  poured  off  the  first  efTerves- 
cence  of  his  feelings,  began  to  talk  rather  more  coolly.  *  I 
do  not  believe,'  said  he,  '  that  it  is  any  way  to  lay  out  mo- 
ney on  these  man-made  ministers.  But  give  me  such 
ministers  as  they  had  in  old  times,  holy  men  of  God  that  did 
not  preach  for  money,  but  as  they  were  moved  by  the 
Holy  Ghost,  and  I'd  give  all  I'm  worth  but  that  they 
should  be  supported.     I  have  always  been  seeking  to  lay 


LIFE  AND  DEATH  OF  MR.  HARDING.  141 

out  my  money  for  religion,  but  could  never  find  any  to 
ky  it  out  for.  Your  societies  that  make  so  much  noise 
in  the  world  are  mere  catch-penny  schemes,  to  give  sup- 
port to  a  set  of  lazy,  worthless  fellows;  and  I  would  ra- 
ther  have  my  money  in  the  bottom  of  the  ocean  than  in 
tlieir  hands.  As  for  myself,  I  think  the  heathen  better  off 
as  they  are,  than  with  missionaries,  unless  they  are  better 
than  any  I  know.  That  I  have  not  given  my  money  to 
God  is  the  fault  of  others,  not  my  own,  for  if  they  had 
done  as  they  ought,  they  might  have  had  it.' 

It  was  by  such  pleas  that  he  always  managed  to  justi- 
fy to  his  own  conscience  and  to  others  his  total  disregard 
of  the  claims  of  God  and  humanity,  in  the  use  of  his  im. 
mense  resources.  Having  thus  seen  what  were  the  ha* 
bits  and  feelings  of  Mr.  Harding  in  the  course  of  life,  it  may 
be  profitable  to  trace  him  through  its  closing  scene. 

The  proverb,  that  there  is  a  way  that  seemeth  right 
unto  a  man,  but  the  end  thereof  are  the  ways  of  death, 
finds  confirmation  in  the  history  of  every  human  being. 
Much  of  what  blooms  with  promise  is  fruitful  only  in  dis- 
appointment  and  despair.  Did  we  penetrate  beyond  the 
external  gloss  to  the  inherent  nature  and  tendency  of  things 
— did  we  look  at  the  objects  now  most  fondly  cherished 
in  their  connection  with  death,  and  trace  out  the  influence 
which  they  will  exert  upon  our  manner  of  leaving  the  world, 
and  our  prospects  for  eternity,  how  should  we  mourn  where 
we  now  rejoice,  and  rejoice  where  we  now  mourn  !  Death, 
the  great  teacher,  will  sum  up  the  argument  of  life,  and, 
deducing  from  its  passions,  motives,  habits,  sentiments, 


142  LIFE  AND  DEATH  OF  MR.  HARDING. 

and  pursuits,  their  true  moral,  will  imprint  it  upon  our 
memories  in  characters  which  eternity  cannot  efface.  It 
is  here,  amid  the  truth-speaking  struggles  of  the  closing 
scene,  that  the  ambitious,  the  proud,  the  vain,  the  world* 
ly,  the  avaricious,  and  all  who  sport  in  prosperity's  beam, 
will  lay  aside  the  glossy  attire  of  fiction,  and  assume  the 
unsophisticated  aspects  of  reality.  Every  thing  will  be 
reduced  to  its  proper  dimensions,  antecedents  will  appear 
in  connection  with  their  own  proper  consequents,  and  the 
diverging  elements  of  character  will  be  brought  to  a  point 
that  may  enable  us  to  detect  their  inherent  tendencies. 
Hence,  by  looking  at  the  different  characters  with  which 
we  meet,  as  they  appear  under  dying  circumstances,  we 
may  acquire  most  valuable  instruction. 

Mr.  Harding,  we  have  remarked  already,  had  spent  his 
life  in  the  self-denying  and  laborious  pursuit  of  money, 
having  never  relaxed  till  forced  by  the  iron  hand  of  ne- 
cessity. Though  strictly  honest,  in  the  common  accep- 
tation, there  was  no  meanness,  and  no  rigor  of  exaction 
upon  those  in  his  power,  to  which  he  would  not  descend, 
in  slaking  his  groveling  propensities.  What  he  got  he 
never  allowed  to  escape  him.  No  man  ever  more  rigor- 
ously acted  on  the  saying  of  Shylock,  in  the  Merchant  of 
Venice : 


Shut  doors  after  you — Fast  bind,  fast  find  ; 
A  proverb  never  stale  in  thrifty  mind.' 


When  his  health  became  so  impaired  as  to  render  further 
attention  to  business  impossible,  he  brought  his  affairs  in 
the  city  of -^ —  to  a  close,  and  retired  to  a  small  farm 


LIFE   AND   DEATH   OF   MR.    HARDINGf.  14^ 

in  the  neighborhood  of  which  we  have  spoken.  The  idea 
of  a  rural  retreat  had  long  flourished  in  his  imagination) 
as  furnishing  a  pleasant  contrast  to  the  toils  of  business, 
and  the  hated  tiirongs  which  surrounded  him ;  being  also 
consecrated  by  the  endeared  recollections  of  his  childhood. 
Indeed,  he  was  one  of  that  class  who  have  the  folly  to 
think,  that  a  return  to  the  condition  they  were  in,  in  the 
days  of  comparative  innocence,  will  restore  the  joy  of 
those  days. 

'The  statesman,  lawyer,  ttiefchant,  man  of  trade, 
Pants  for  the  refuge  of  the  rural  shade, 
Where  all  his  long  anxieties  forgot, 
Amid  the  charms  of  a  sequester'd  spot, 
Or  recollected  only  to  gild  o'er. 
And  add  a  smile  to  what  was  sweet  before ; 
He^may  possess  the  joys  he  thinks  he  sees, 
Lay  his  old  age  upon  the  lap  of  ease, 
Improve  the  remnant  of  his  wasted  span, 
And  having  lived  a  trifler,  die  a  man. ' 

But,  alas!  retirement  cannot  hide  a  man  from  himself, 
I'epay  his  long  arrears  of  guilt,  nor  recover  him  from  the 
slavery  of  those  passions  and  habits,  to  which  he  ha^ 
through  hfe  yielded  himself  a  willing  victim.  On  this 
fact  the  retreat  of  poor  Mr.  H.  furnished  a  melancholy 
comment.  He  was  still  himself,  the  same  eager,  grasp- 
ing, pining  man  of  gold.  His  riches  were  corrupted,  and 
his  garments  were  moth-eaten ;  his  gold  and  silver  were 
cankered,  and  the  rust  of  them  was  a  witness  against  him, 
consuming  him  as  it  were  fire. 

He  was  determined  to  his  present  residence,  partly  by 
its  retired  situation,  being  a  little  farm  surrounded  by 
hills  a  few  miles  from  the  village  of—— — ;  partly  by" 


144  jli?e  and  death  of  mr.  hardincj. 

its  proximity  to  the  city  in  which  he  had  invested  most  of 
his  great  estate  ;  but  more  still  by  the  fact  that  he  held' 
a  mortgage  against  the  former  owner  for  money  loaned, 
which  enabled  him  to  obtain  it  a  great  bargain.  The 
house  itself  was  in  the  fashion  of  a  hundred  years  ago, 
having  that  exuberance  of  timber  which  resulted  from  its 
abundance  at  the  time  it  was  built,  and  was  every  way 
fitted  to  resist  the  shock  of  passing  years.  The  rooms 
were  spacious,  and  derived  from  the  projection  of  huge 
beams  and  posts  several  inches  beyond  the  plastering,  as 
also  from  the  massy  rocks  in  the  base  of  the  chimney  and 
sides  of  the  fire-places,  a  peculiarly  rude  and  romantic 
appearance.  An  imagination  accustomed  to  harbor  the 
idea  of  ghosts,  would  have  found  ample  scope  for  its  fears 
in  one  of  these  sepulchral  haunts  of  living  men,  especially 
'ds  the  neighborhood  was  full  of  legendary  tales  of  children 
dashed  against  the  walls  by  troops  of  prowling  savages  in 
the  time  of  the  colonies,  the  stain  of  whose  blood  is  said  to 
be  still  visible, — of  mothers  scalped  and  thrown  upon  the 
fire,  whose  unavenged  shades  are  said  to  linger  round  the 
spot,  holding  in  their  arms  infants  covered  with  gore,  and 
making  in  the  ears  of  many  a  terrified  listener,  such  strange 
noises  as  come  only  from  the  lower  regions.  Every 
thing  around  the  house,  also,  was  in  keeping  with  its  inte- 
rior* It  stood  in  the  midst  of  a  cluster  of  ancient  elms, 
whose  thick  branches  inclosed  it  on  every  side,  and  the 
contact  of  Which  at  numerous  points,  produced,  at  the 
least  stirring  of  the  wind,  sounds  the  most  doleful  imagin- 
able*    And  to  complete  the  gloomy  picture,  a  wall  sur- 


LIFE    AND    DEATH    OF    MR.    HARDING.  145 

rounded  the  whole,  which  terminated  in  a  barn  and  cow- 
shed,  all  of  huge  rough  stones,  that,  owing  to  their  shaded 
condition,  were  covered  with  nnoss.  Thus,  the  whole  scene 
was  every  way  fitted  to  the  character  and  furniture  of  the 
new  tenant.  As  to  furniture,  ho  had  none,  except  a  few 
old  oaken  chairs  that  he  was  induced  to  buy,  because  he 
thought  they  would  never  wear  out ;  a  desk,  at  which 
from  the  time  of  his  first  going  into  business  he  had  made 
out  all  his  accounts,  and  which  he  now  regarded  with  a  su- 
perstitious veneration  ;  a  bedstead,  upon  which  he  had 
slept  more  than  forty  years;  and  only  so  many  other 
things  as  are  indispensable  to  housekeeping.  His  family, 
consisting  only  of  himself  and  an  old  domestic,  whom  long 
habit  had  reconciled  to  his  mode  of  life,  he  contrived  to 
support  by  cultivating  the  farm,  an  occupation  to  which 
he  had  been  accustomed  in  early  life,  and  to  which  he  now 
reverted  with  that  fondness,  with  which  age  regards  the 
objects  familiar  to  its  childhood.  In  this  situation  he  had 
passed  a  few  years  as  quietly  as  was  possible  for  a  mind 
goaded  with  remorse,  and  cankering  with  the  love  of 
money  like  his,  till  his  wreck  of  a  constitution  yielded  to 
the  pressure  of  infirmity,  and  sunk  into  the  arms  of  death. 
A  kw  days  after  the  interview  alluded  to  above,  he  was 
seized  with  a  cold,  which  brought  on  a  fever,  and  confined 
him  to  his  bed.  Still,  his  disease  might  have  been  remo- 
ved by  the  timely  prescriptions  of  a  physician  ;  but  dread- 
ing the  freedom  which  his  ample  means  tempted  the  phy- 
sicians to  use  in  their  charges,  he  never  called  one,  till  he 
had  fi ist  exhausted  his  own  medical  resources,  and  found 
no  alternative,  but  to  do  it,  or  die.  In  this  case,  therefore, 
13 


146  LIFE    AND    DEATH    OF   ME.    HARDING. 

he  allowed  the  fever  to  rage  a  full  week  before  he  would 
permit  Betty,  his  domestic,  to  go  for  the  physician  ;  and 
by  this  time  he  was  too  far  gone  to  admit  of  a  cure.  For 
a  few  days,  however,  the  medicine  had  its  desired  eifect, 
and  he  seemed  better ;  but  the  sources  of  vitality  were 
too  far  exhausted,  and  the  physician,  discovering  his  case 
to  be  hopeless,  apprised  him  of  the  fact,  and  advised  him, 
if  he  had  any  affairs  to  settle,  to  attend  to  them  without 
delay.  At  this  intelligence  the  poor  man  was  almost 
frantic,  and  staring  wildly  about  the  room,  began  to  mut- 
ter half-formed  sentences  about  money — bank  stock— se- 
curities—expenses — hard  times — difficulty  of  keeping 
what  one  gets — and  finally  recovering  himself  a  little, 
said  with  great  emotion,  that,  having  formed  many  plans 
of  doing  good  with  his  money,  he  could  not  believe  that 
God  would  remove  him  till  they  were  accomplished. 

The  physician,  disappointed  in  the  effect  of  his  frank- 
ness, as  he  had  gathered  from  the  religious  style  of  his 
remarks,  that  his  faith  would  render  him  proof  against 
the  fear  of  death  ;  and  apprehensive  that  it  might  aggra- 
vate his  disease,  endeavored  to  recall  what  he  had  said, 
and  concluded  by  sayinir,  that  if  he  would  employ  a  cer- 
tain man  in  the  neighborhood  who  was  celebrated  as  a 
nurse,  it  was  possible  that  he  might  recover.  At  all 
events,  he  thought  it  indispensable  that  he  should  have 
more  attention,  than  his  old  domestic  was  capable  of  giv- 
ing him. 

But  the  ruling  passion,  strong  in  death,  rendered  Mr. 
Harding  unwilling  to  incur  the  expense  of  a  nurse.  It 
had  too  far  usurped  the  seat  of  reason  to  admit  of  hia  re- 


LIFE  AND  DEATH  OF  MR.  HARDING.  147 

fleeting  that  a  hundredth  part  of  his  income  was  more 
than  sufficient  to  support  him  sumptuously,  or  to  allow  of 
his  looking  forward  a  few  days,  when  that  world  which 
he  so  sincerely  hated,  would  seize  upon  all  that  he  might 
leave  behind  him.  These  were  points  which  the  mind 
of  Mr.  Harding,  paralyzed  by  its  contact  with  gold,  was  no 
longer  able  to  bring  together  ;  and  hence  he  denied  to 
his  sick-bed,  not  only  the  means  of  comfort,  but  even  those 
things  which  he  was  told,  were  indispensable  to  his  recove- 
ry. No  sooner  had  the  physician  left  him,  than  he  called 
his  old  domestic  by  his  bed-side,  and  said,  '  Betty,  if  you 
will  be  industrious,  and  do  your  work,  and  take  care  of 
me  besides,  I  will  make  you  a  handsome  present,  when  I 
recover.'  To  this,  Betty,  anxious  for  the  present,  of 
which  she  got  but  few,  replied;  'Masser,  I'll  do  jist  as 
well  as  iver  I  can.'  '  Well,  Betty,  do  your  work  this 
morning,  and  come  in  the  afternoon  and  sit  by  me,  when 
the  doctor  comes.'  Though  this  order  was  obeyed  to  the 
best  of  her  ability,  still,  the  sick  man  was  neglected,  and 
when  the  physician  came,  he  found  that  his  medicines  had 
not  been  administered  according  to  order,  and  that  his 
patient  was  much  worse.  He  then  told  him  peremptorily, 
that  unless  he  would  consent  to  employ  a  nurse,  he  would 
never  visit  him  again.  'Doctor,'  said  Mr.  Harding, 
*  Betty  can  do  all  I  want,  and  why  should  I  incur  this 
needless  expense  ?  What  I  should  pay  for  a  nurse  would 
more  than  support  a  poor  family  !'  '  That  makes  no 
difference,'  said  the  physician,  *  if  I  prescribe  for  you,  I 
will  have  my  orders  [attended  to.'  When  Mr.  Harding 
found  his  physician  inflexible,  he  consented  to  have  the 


148  LIFE  AND  DEATH  OF  MR.  HARDING. 

nurse  sent  for.  When  he  arrived,  however,  the  infatuated 
man  would  not  allow  him  to  begin  his  work  before  inqui- 
ring minutely  into  the  amount  of  his  charge,  adding  that 
he  had  always  been  annoyed  by  the  exorbitant  charges 
of  those  whom  he  had  employed  to  do  any  thing  for  him, 
which  had  led  him  to  take  the  precaution  of  making  the 
bargain  before  the  work  was  done.  And  when  the  nurse 
had  stated  his  price,  he  used  every  persuasion  to  have  him 
take  less,  and  finally  would  not  consent  to  employ  him  at 
all,  till  the  nurse,  to  appease  his  feelings,  agreed  to  take  his 
pay  in  articles  of  produce  from  his  farm. 

The  physician  had  apprised  the  pastor  who  was  in 
daily  habits  of  attendance  on  Mr.  Harding,  that  he 
thought  liis  case  hopeless,  and  advised  him  to  urge  his 
making  his  will,  as  otherwise  his  property  might  go  into 
unworthy  hands,  or  become  a  subject  of  endless  dispute 
in  law.  The  minister,  therefore,  watched  his  opportunity 
of  introducing  the  subject,  that  if  possible  he  might  do  a 
service  by  giving  a  right  direction  to  Mr.  Harding*s 
great  estate,  though  it  were  not  till  the  last  hour  of 
life. 

Having  inquired  of  him,  in  one  of  his  visits,  whether 
he  felt  willing  to  leave  the  world,  in  the  event  of  his  re- 
moval by  that  sickness,  Mr.  Harding  replied,  '  Why,  as 
to  that,  he  believed  those  whom  Christ  loved,  he  loved  to 
the  end,'  that  the  memory  of  his  conversion  forty  years 
ago,  was  as  fresh  in  his  mind  at  that  moment  as  ever,  and 
that  he  could  not  doubt  but  that  it  would  be  well  with  him 
after  death.  Christ  has  said  that  1  shall  never  perish, 
and  I  believe  it.     But,'  added  he,  *  my  worldly  affairs 


LIFE  AND  DEATH  OF  MR.  HARDING.  149 

occupy  my  mind  so  much  that  I  can  hardly  think  of  any 
thing  else/ 

The  pastor  warned  him  against  relying  upon  what  he 
had  experienced  forty  years  before,  reminded  him  that 
they  only  had  the  promise  of  life  who  remained  faithful  to 
death,  told  him  that  it  was  a  serious  thing  to  die,  and  that 
many  would  cry  in  the  last  day,  Lord,  Lord,  open  to 
us,  to  whom  Christ  would  protest  that  he  never  knew 
them. 

But  the  religious  torpor  of  Mr.  Harding's  mind  ren- 
dered it  proof  against  all  such  warnings.  When,  how- 
ever, the  minister  touched  upon  the  subject  of  his  money, 
advising  him  by  all  means  to  make  his  will  immediately, 
that  he  might  be  prepared  for  any  event,  his  sensibilities 
were  all  awake.  '  My  money,  my  money,'  said  he,  *  I 
have  long  since  consecrated  that  to  God,  and  should  have 
used  it  Hberally  for  advancing  his  cause,  if  I  had  found 
any  way  of  doing  it  consistently  with  my  sense  of  duty.' 
<  But  it  is  not  too  late  yet,'  replied  the  minister,  '  I  would 
therefore,  advise  you  to  forego  your  objections  to  our  in- 
stitutions of  benevolence,  so  far  at  least  as  to  deposit  with 
them,  a  portion  of  your  money,  since  it  is  manifestly  im- 
possible for  you  to  retain  it  much  longer.'  '  Why,'  in- 
quired Mr.  Harding,  '  do  you  think  it  decided  that  I  shall 
not  recover  V  '  Yes  I  do,  indeed,'  replied  the  minister  ; 
*  you  have  been  growing  worse  every  day  since  I  saw 
you ;  and  I  am  satisfied  that  you  cannot  stand  it  much 
longer.  At  all  events,  Mr.  Harding,  will  not  your  mind 
be  more  settled  if  you  make  your  will,  than  it  is  at  pre- 
sent.' 

13* 


150        LIFE  AND  DEATH  OF  MR.  HARDING. 

These  remarks  had  their  desired  effect  so  far  as  to  set 
him  immediately  upon  making  his  will.  The  proper 
officers  were  called  to  assist  poor  H.  in  transferring  to 
others,  the  property  which  he  found  it  impossible  for  him 
to  retain  any  longer  in  his  own  possession.  The  form  of 
a  will  was  drafted,  leaving  blanks  to  be  filled  at  the 
dictation  of  the  sick  man.  This  proved  a  most  difficult 
task.  As  he  advanced  from  item  to  item,  and  from  object 
to  object,  the  feeling  was  depicted  in  his  countenance,  ye 
have  taken  away  my  gods  which  I  made,  and  what  have 
I  more  ?  Seeing,  howerer,  that  there  was  no  further 
chance  for  him  to  control  his  property,  but  to  do  it  by 
will,  he  waived  his  objections  to  the  different  objects  of 
benevolence  brought  to  his  view,  and  proceeded  to  make 
a  disposition  of  all  his  invested  estate.  After  the  will  was 
completed  it  was  presented  to  him  for  his  signature.  But 
he  delayed,  seemed  involved  in  deep  thought,  and  became 
so  much  agitated  that  drops  of  cold  perspiration  started 
from  every  pore. 

He  finally  confessed  that  the  items  of  property  already 
named,  was  not  all  that  he  possessed,  but  that  when  he 
came  upon  his  farm,  he  brought  with  him  a  large  amount 
in  specie,  which  he  had  concealed  under  ground  at 
different  points  on  his  premises.  In  a  certain  cave  which 
he  named,  he  said  that  they  \fould  find  a  bag  of  money  ; 
in  another  place  which  he  pointed  out  they  would  find 
another  bag ;  and  so  he  went  on  to  describe  several 
places  in  which  he  had  buried  coin.  He  wished,  he  said, 
to  have  all  this  collected  and  brought  to  him,  that  he 
might  see  it  once  more  before  he  died.     Men  were  there- 


LIFE    AND    DEATH    OF    BIR.    HARDING.  151 

fore  despatched  for  the  money,  who  found  it  as  described, 
and  collected  an  immense  quantity,  which  they  poured 
promiscuously  into  two  corn-bags,  and  brought  it  to  the 
death-bed  of  the  owner.  No  sooner  did  the  money  enter 
the  door,  than  he  fixed  his  eyes  upon  it  with  an  intense 
gaze,  and  immediately  seemed  more  composed.  He  then 
desired  to  have  the  bags  placed  on  a  table  by  the  side  of 
his  bed,  that  he  might  put  his  handS:  upon  them,  and  that 
the  will  should  be  brought,  that  he  might  affix  his  signa- 
ture. Both  of  which  were  done  accordingly,  and  a  pen 
was  placed  between  his  fingers  that  he  might  write  his 
name. 

It  was  an  awful  moment  to  all  present.  It  being  eve- 
ning, the  sky  covered  with  clouds,  the  wind  howling 
through  the  surrounding  elms,  and  the  thick  darkness 
occasionally  interrupted  by  the  livid  glare  of  lightning,  all 
served  to  tinge  with  additional  horrors  a  picture,  whose 
outlines  were  as  terrible  as  any  that  may  be  expected 
this  side  the  world  of  wo.  All  the  legendary  tales  of 
gory  infants,  and  murdered  mothers,  uttering  their  sad 
plaints  in  mortal  ears,  with  which  the  house  itself  was 
associated,  were  spectacles  of  beauty  compared  with  the 
actual  scene  now  passing  within  its  walls.  Such  they  were 
felt  to  be  by  the  spectators.  It  seemed  the  rallying  point 
of  devils,  satisfied  with  their  glut  of  human  wo,  and  hold- 
ing infernal  orgies  over  the  potency  of  gold  as  a  lure  to 
damnation.  Every  countenance  was  pale,  every  limb 
quaked,  and  an  indescribable  feeling  came  over  all,  as  if 
they  stood  within  reach  of  the  lurid  flames  of  the  bottom- 
less pit. 


152  LIFE  AND  DEATH  OF  MR.  HARDING. 

Before  using  his  pen,  the  dying  man,  rallied  strength 
to  rise  up  in  his  bed,  aided  by  others,  when  stretching  out 
his  arms  to  their  full  length,  he  clasped  the  bags  of 
money  to  his  bosom,  as  a  dying  mother  would  her  infant 
for  the  last  time,  and  gave  a  deep  sigh  ;  but  no  sooner  did 
his  hands  touch  each  other  on  the  opposite  side,  than 
death  seized  him,  one  arm  he  threw  back,  and  with  the 
other  he  clenched  the  bags  of  money,  and  in  that  position 
breathed  out  his  soul  to  the  God  that  gave  it,  without 
having,  after  all,  made  any  disposition  of  that  property, 
concerning  which  he  had  cherished  through  life  the  de- 
luded feeling  that  it  was  consecrated  to  the  work  of  well 
doing. 

His  estate,  which  was  found  to  exceed  a  million,  fell 
into  the  hands  of  distant  relatives,  who  spent  a  large 
amount  of  it  upon  lawsuits  in  settling  their  respective 
claims ;  and  with  the  rest  they  supported  a  style 
of  living  beyond  their  means,  till  it  was  expended,  when 
they  settled  down  again  into  a  state  of  vice  and  infamy 
vastly  more  degrading,  than  the  one  from  which  they  had 
emerged.  Thus,  the  history  of  Mr.  H.  affords  a  lucid 
comment  upon  the  saying  of  the  wise  man,  that,  "  there  is 
that  withholdeth  more  than  is  meet,  but  it  tendeth  to 
poverty." 


CHAPTER  X. 

General  view  of  the  argument  from  the  Bible. 

Having  noticed  the  several  features  in  our  character 
and  relations  from  which  the  duty  under  consideration 
may  be  learned,  we  come  now  to  the  laws  and  tendencies 
of  revealed  religion.  By  whatever  arguments  from  other 
sources  the  obligation  of  systematic  beneficence  in  the 
use  of  money  may  be  enjoined,  it  would  be  impossible  for 
it  to  assail  the  mind  with  much  force,  if  it  were  unnoticed 
or  slightly  urged  in  the  Holy  Scriptures.  A  conscience 
seared  by  sin  is  proof  against  the  ordinary  means  of  en- 
forcing moral  claims,  and  will  never  yield  till  it  feels  the 
concentrated  power  of  all.  Moreover,  in  every  other  article 
of  duty,  the  revealed  system  is  exactly  suited  to  the  natural ; 
and  all  that  reason  and  the  moral  sense  speak  concerning 
right  and  wrong,  is  not  only  left  uncontradicted,  but  is 
confirmed,  by  the  word  of  God.  Revelation  deepens 
the  tones  in  which  nature  remonstrates  against  vice,  and 
pleads  for  virtue.  It  expands  the  limit  of  our  sensible  im- 
pressions by  means  of  faith,  and  thus  what  in  the  ethical 
economy  '  is  dark,  it  illumines  ;  what  is  low,  it  raises  and 
supports.'      To  find,  therefore,  a  book  of  this  character 


154      HOW    TO    VIEW    THE    BIBLE    ON    THIS    SUBJECT. 

deficient  in  its  enforcements  of  the  duty  under  considera- 
tion, would  so  weaken  our  sense  of  obligation  to  perform 
it,  that  no  number  of  coincident  facts  from  our  constitu- 
tion, physical  circumstances,  or  social  relations,  would  be 
sufficient  to  sustain  it. 

To  do  justice,  however,  to  the  view  which  the  Bible 
gives  of  this  subject,  it  is  not  only  necessary  to  look  at  its 
explicit  enactments,  but  to  examine  the  motives  by  which 
they  are  enforced ;  to  trace  its  delineation  of  characters 
formed  on  its  own  or  opposite  principles  in  regard  to  it, 
npting  its  terms  of  commendation  and  reproof;  the  conse- 
quences accruing  usder  former  dispensations  from  the  ob- 
servance or  neglect  of  this  duty  ;  its  influence  upon  our 
prospects  for  eternity  ;  and,  in  fine,  the  general  tendency 
of  revealed  religion  as  it  appears  from  the  inspired  record 
of  its  progress,  and  from  every  thing  bearing  directly  or 
remotely  upon  tliis  point,  must  be  weighed  and  understood. 
As  it  is  from  the  general  view  of  a  country  that  the  course 
of  its  waters  is  to  be  determined,  and  not  from  the  direc- 
tion of  a  single  river  at  a  given  point ;  so,  the  revealed 
economy  must  be  viewed  in  a  great  variety  of  bearings, 
and  the  scope  of  the  whole  understood,  before  we  are 
qualified  to  appreciate  its  drift  and  its  force  in  regard  to  a 
given  duty.  The  command  to  repent,  for  instance,  iso- 
lated from  other  considerations,  may  have  great  weight ; 
but  when  enforced  by  the  goodness  of  God,  and  those  doc- 
trines which  cluster  round  the  cross  of  Christ,  it  comes 
homo  with  vastly  greater  power  to  the  conscience.  In- 
deed, it  is  not  from  isolated  precepts  that  the  true  force  of 


PIETY    SAME    IN    ALL   AGES.  155 

atjy  doctrine  or  duty  is  to  be  appreciated.  When  the  real 
bearings  of  revealed  truth  upon  the  duty  of  systematic  be- 
neficence are  duly  perceived,  we  believe  that  an  uncor. 
rupted  conscience  will  feel  the  guilt  of  neglecting  it  as 
keenly,  as  that  of  violating  the  rights  of  property,  or  the 
sanctity  of  conjugal  or  paternal  ties. 

To  do  justice  also  to  the  subject,  the  Old  Testament 
must  be  examined  in  connection  with  the  new.  The  es- 
sential elements  of  piety  are  the  same  in  every  generation, 
and  under  every  variety  of  form.  Personal  identity  is 
.not  to  be  affected  by  a  change  of  costume.  Whether  in 
offering  beasts  on  rude  altars  of  stone  ;  or  pouring  forth 
the  devout  effusions  of  the  soul  under  the  umbrageous 
canopy  of  a  dense  forest, 

"  Whose  convex  boughs,  girdling  the  gloomy  air, 
O'ercanopied  their  cold  and  twilight  shades 
While  daily  suns  at  distance  rolled  away  ;" 

or  decked  in  the  imposing  rites  of  the  tabernable 
worship  ;  or  burning  incense  on  the  golden  altars  of  the 
temple  ;  or  performing  the  simple  rites  of  the  christian  in- 
stitution—piety wears  the  permanent  features  of  humility, 
repentance,  faith,  love,  hope,  and  veneration  for  the 
supreme  Being.  In  these  its  identity  consists.  The 
language  by  which  Moses,  David  and  Isaiah,  give  vent  to 
the  feelings  of  the  heart,  is  in  most  respects  as  appropriate 
to  the  feelings  of  christians,  as  that  of  Paul,  Peter,  or 
John, 

The  essential  principles  for  the  governing  human  con- 
duct also,  are  as  immutable,  as  the  being  from  Avhom  they 
emanated.     The  precepts  of  the  moral  law  have  under- 


156        ELEMENTS  OP  DUTY  IbENTICAL.   . 

gone  no  change  since  the  creation  of  the  species.  It  is 
only  in  regard  to  positive  precepts  that  a  change  has 
taken  place.  And  even  this  change  is  circumstantial, 
not  radical.  God  levies  his  contributions  on  precisely  the 
same  objects  that  he  ever  did.  The  affections,  the  under- 
standing, the  bodily  organs,  the  gift  of  speech,  the  time, 
the  property,  the  influence,  and  every  necessary  appendage 
of  our  earthly  existence,  are  laid  under  such  restrictions 
that  in  the  use  of  them  God  may  be  glorified,  and  his 
authority  acknowledged.  Differences  in  the  modes  of 
worship,  as  they  appear  in  the  patriarchal,  mosaic,  or 
christian  dispensations,  consist  solely  in  different  combina- 
tions of  these  identical  elements.  The  patriarch  may 
have  uttered  different  expressions  in  coming  before  God 
from  the  Jew,  and  the  Jew  from  the  christian,  stiil,  ex- 
pressions of  some  kind  found  place  in  the  forms  of  each. 
They  all  consecrated  time  to  God,  though  it  may  have 
been  different,  as  to  its  amount,  and  specific  portions. — 
And  they  all  made  an  offering  in  money,  or  of  that  in 
which  their  wealth  consisted,  though  the  channels  through 
which  it  flowed  varied,  to  suit  the  ritual  economies  under 
which  they  respectively  lived.  The  patriarch  took  of  the 
firstlings  of  his  flock  an  offering  unto  the  Lord,  the  Jew 
added  to  this  contributions  in  gold,  silver,  and  precious 
stones,  to  erect  and  furnish  sacred  edifices  ;  while  the 
christian  paid  his  money  to  support  his  spiritual  teacher, 
to  supply  the  wants  of  the  poor,  or  accomplish  other 
purposes  connected  with  the  advancement  of  his  faith. 
Thus,  while  the  mode  differed,  the  article  consecrated 
was  the  same ;  and   indeed,  so  far  as  supply  to  the  un- 


OCCULT  BEARINGS  OF  REVEALED  TRUTH,  157 

fortunate  is  considered,  was  bestowed  upon  the  same 
object.  The  claims  of  beneficence  properly  speaking, 
were  the  same  in  the  first  ages  of  the  world  that  they  are 
now,  and  those  who  regarded  them  were  sometimes  so  hap- 
py as  to  find  the  stranger  whomthey  sheltered  an  angel  in 
disguise. 

In  order,  therefore,  to  appreciate  the  instructions  of  the 
Bible  on  this  subject,  the  Old  Testament  must  be  viewed 
in  connection  with  the  new,  the  entire  volume  being 
designed  to  teach  m*  our  duty,  upon  whom  the  ends  of  the 
world  are  come.  It  is  with  the  book  of  revelation,  as  with 
that  of  nature,  many  of  its  pages  are  but  imperfectly 
studied,  if  studied  at  all.  And  as  those  principles  in  art 
and  science  which  are  now  wielding  the  physical  destinies 
of  the  world,  remained  through  a  long  line  of  generations 
occult  and  dormant,  so  doubtless  there  are  many  bene- 
ficent bearings  of  revealed  truth  upon  life  and  manners, 
yet  unexerted  and  unknown.  The  Bible  is  not  only 
adapted  to  a  state  of  society  vastly  more  pure  and  eleva- 
ted than  any  that  now  exists,  but,  rightly  interpreted  and 
brought  out  into  real  life,  its  tendency  is  to  propel  us 
forward  to  such  a  state  of  society.  Its  principles,  or 
rather  their  occult  bearings  upon  human  life,  require  to 
be  explored,  delineated,  and  so  clearly  explained,  that  no 
one  shall  be  able  to  resist  their  influence  without  guilt, 
any  more  than  he  can  now  feel  himself  guiltless  in  viola- 
ting the  most  obvious  moral  claims. 

It  should  ever  be  remembered  that  the  inspired  record, 
like  nature,  is  a  collection  of  ultimate  facts,  and  that  our 
14 


158  BIBLE,  BOOK  OP  ULTIMATE  FACTS. 

object  in  studying  it  should  be  twofold  :  First,  to  under* 
stand  the  facts  themselves ;  and  second,  to  secure  for  them 
a  legitimate  control  over  the  character,  condition,  and 
destiny  of  man.  Too  much  of  the  effort  of  the  church 
has  hitherto  been  wasted  upon  an  attempt  to  reconcile 
these  facts  with  each  other,  which  is  as  unphilosophical 
as  a  like  attempt  in  relation  to  the  facts  of  nature  ;  or,  in 
settling  minor  differences  of  opinion  concerning  the  facts 
themselves,  which  is  as  hopeless  in  the  present  state  of 
man,  as  it  would  be  to  effect  a  perfect  harmony  in  their 
views  of  physical  science.  The  diversities  of  opinion 
upon  the  latter  subject  are  as  numerous  as  upon  the  for- 
mer, and  had  partisan  zeal  risen  to  the  same  degree  of  in- 
tensity, they  would  have  made  as  much  noise  in  the 
world.  But,  while  in  science,  men  have  passed  over 
their  diversities,  for  the  purpose  of  making  further  disco- 
very, they  have  unhappily  allowed  these  diversities  in 
religion  to  obstruct  their  course  ;  and  up  to  this  day  sec- 
tarian partialities  hang  like  a  dense  fog  between  the  in- 
tellectual eye  and  the  meaning  which  the  Holy  Ghost 
intended  to  convey.  All  are  in  search  of  arguments  for  their 
own  cause  rather  than  that  of  truth  ;  and  nine  out  of  ten 
who  think  themselves  the  most  liberal,  will  start  back 
from  a  train  of  investigations  which  threatens  to  unsettle 
their  sectarian  landmarks.  These  causes  have  retarded 
our  discovery  of  the  proper  bearings  of  revealed  truth  ; 
and  hence  many,  which  are  really  of  the  greatest  im- 
portance, are  almost  wholly  unknown  or  unfeit. 

But  to  no  subject  do  these  remarks  apply  with  greater 


ITS  TEACHING  ON  THIS  SUBJECT  NOT  FELT.  159 

force,  than  to  the  one  in  hand.  If  it  be  indeed  true,  that 
the  Bible  has  affixed  its  sanction  to  the  duty  of  systematic 
beneficence,  it  remains  yet  for  it  to  make  its  voice  so 
heard  on  the  subject,  as  to  produce  a  decided  impression 
upon  those  who  profess  to  make  it  their  only  guide  to  faith 
and  duty.  This  will  appear  from  the  fact,  that,  though 
there  are  thousands  in  the  churches  of  all  denominations, 
who,  so  far  from  adopting  any  plan  of  beneficence  in  the 
use  of  money,  never  do  any  thing  in  this  way  worth 
mentioning  ;  yet,  there  is  no  case  in  which  a  vigorous  dis- 
cipline is  put  in  force  against  them.  Nor  is  the  public 
mind  in  the  church  sufficiently  instructed  on  the  point  to 
admit  of  such  a  discipline,  were  it  attempted.  The  most 
flagrant  cases  of  covetousness  are  connived  at,  as  if  it 
were  no  sin,  or  sin  beyond  the  reach  of  those  correctives 
which  the  gospel  provides. 

But,  that  the  claims  of  revealed  religion  cannot  be 
fulfilled,  without  our  adopting  a  liberal  system  of  ex- 
penditure in  gratuitously  purchasing  the  same  benefits 
for  others  that  we  need  for  ourselves,  is  a  principle, 
which,  if  established,  ought  to  awaken  in  every  one 
who  has  yet  adopted  no  such  system,  as  keen  a  sense 
of  guilt,  as  if  his  children  were  perishing  through  his 
neglect.  By  laying  out  to  expend  his  income  wholly 
upon  himself  and  famil)-,  he  is  helping  to  rob  perish- 
ing millions,  not  merely  of  temporal  food,  but  of  their 
only  means  of  intellectual  elevation,  of  moral  improve- 
ment, and  of  future  salvation.  Blood-guiltiness  stains 
his  skirts  with  its  deepest  dyes.     And  the  voice  of  the 


160  ITS  TEACHING  ON  THIS  SUBJECT  NOT  FELT. 

church  should  be  raised  against  such  an  offender,  deli- 
vering him  unto  Satan  for  the  destruction  of  the  flesh, 
that  the  spirit  may  be  saved  in  the  day  of  the  Lord 
Jesus« 


CHAPTER   Xr. 


Inquiry  into  the  proportion  of  our  income  whichi' we  are  bound  to 
devote  to  God. 


It  may  be  proper,  at  this  stage  of  our  subject,  to  in- 
quire whether  God  has,  from  any  source,  furnished  the 
means  of  determining  the  proportion,  that  our  pious  of- 
ferings should  bear  to  the  whole  amount  of  our  income. 
The  duty  of  giving  being  admitted,  the  question  recurs, 
how  much  ought  we  to  give  1  The  decision  of  this  ques- 
tion may  be  as  material  as  whether  we  ought  to  give  at 
all,  since  we  are  as  liable  to  fail  of  our  duty,  by  not  pro- 
portioning our  gratuities  to  our  ability,  as  by  withholding 
them  altogether*  Indeed,  this  is  the  grand  point  of  fail- 
ure. There  are  few  in  any  of  the  numerous  grades  of 
pecuniary  ability,  from  the  highest  extremes  of  opulence 
down  to  the  most  abject  penury  and  destitution,  that  can- 
not boast  of  having  practised  some  form  or  degree  of 
charity.  Their  minds  are  stored  with  so  many  grateful 
reminiscences  of  aim-deeds  performed,  and  gifts  bestowed, 
which,  viewed  through  the  medium  of  their  covetousness, 
appear  with  a  magnitude  vastly  beyond  their  natural  di- 
mensions, that  no  considerations  in  favor  of  the  duty  of 

14* 


162  LAW  OF  TITHES. 

giving,  can  awaken  in  them  any  sense  of  their  own  defi- 
ciencies. Oh  !  no ;  charity  is  the  very  thing  they  beheve 
in ;  that  is  their  religion  ;  they  are  disgusted  when  much 
is  said  of  the  spiritual  graces  of  the  Christian  character ;  for, 
to  visit  the  fatherless  and  widow  in  their  afflictions  is  the 
sum  of  their  piety  and  faith.  And  yet,  if  the  amount  of 
their  charity  were  compared  with  the  whole  of  their  income, 
it  would  probably  be  found  less  than  one  cent  for  every 
hundred  dollars.  They  give  merely  the  scum  of  their 
estates  that  cannot  be  turned  to  any  other  account ;  but 
still,  it  seems  to  them  so  great,  that  they  find  it  diflicult  to 
comprehend  how  humanity  or  religion  should  ask  for 
more.  The  charities  practised  by  the  great  mass  of  the 
human  family  are  so  disproportioned  to  their  means,  and 
so  contemptible,  that  they  are  just  about  as  remote  from 
the  obligations  which  rest  upon  them,  as  if  they  gave  no- 
thing  at  all.  It  is  time  that  those  who  esteem  charity  a  duty, 
had  taken  account  of  the  stock  invested  in  it,  that  they 
might  ascertain  the  proportion  which  it  bears  to  their 
whole  income.  When  this  is  done,  the  illusions  of  self- 
love  will  vanish,  and  they  will  find  that  their  duties  to  a 
suffering  world  have  yet  to  be  commenced. 

The  bearing  which  the  law  of  tithes  in  a  former  dis- 
pensation has  upon  the  question  of  proportion  now  de- 
manded of  the  church  as  an  offering  to  God,  is  a  point 
that  requires  a  passing  attention.  Are  we  bound  to  de- 
vote a  tenth  of  all  our  income  to  God,  the  same  as  those 
who  lived  under  the  civil  polity  of  the  Jews  ?  If  not,  what 
use  are  we  to  make,  if  any,  of  the  law  requiring  from 


IS    IT    BINDING.  163 

them  a  tenth,  in  determming  the  proportion  that  we  are 
bound  to  offer  ? 

Much  as  this  subject  may  have  been  perplexed  by 
learned  discussion,  we  conceive  that  little  need  be  said, 
prejudice  and  system  apart,  to  set  it  in  a  light  sufficiently 
clear  for  all  practical  purposes.  The  law  of  tithes,  as  a 
part  of  the  civil  polity  of  the  Jews,  passed  away  whh  the 
abolition  of  that  polity.  The  absence  of  an  explicit  trans- 
fer of  that  law  into  the  Christian  institution,  amounts  to 
its  total  repeal.  There  is  a  wide  difference  between  the 
Jewish  nation  and  the  Christian  church.  The  laws  given 
to  the  first  were  suited  to  their  condition  as  inhabitants  of 
the  land  of  Canaan,  whose  occupations  were  chiefly  agra- 
rian, and  whose  civil  relations  were  fewer  and  more  sim- 
ple than  we  find  in  a  more  artificial  and  complex  state  of 
society.  Wlien  they  came  into  possession  of  their  pro- 
mised inheritance,  God  provided  that  a  tenth  of  its  pro- 
ducts should  be  paid  into  the  public  treasury,  as  an  ac- 
knowledgment of  Flis  right,  in  whom  the  ownership  was 
vested.  It  was  His  land,  which  they  were  permitted  to 
occupy  on  lease,  so  long  as  they  should  devote  a  tenth  of 
its  proceeds  to  support  the  sacerdotal  tribe,  to  defray  the 
expenses  of  government,  and  to  accomplish  the  various 
ends  of  His  own  worship.  The  law  of  tithes,  therefore 
was  designed  for  a  particular  locality,  and  would  be  found 
inconvenient  to  an  institution,  whose  empire  is  the  world, 
and  whose  subjects  are  from  all  nations,  kindreds,  people, 
and  languages,  under  the  whole  heaven.  Such  is  the  con- 
dition of  some  portions  of  the  human  family,  to  whom  the 
gospel  looks  for  converts,  and  who  are  equally  needy  of 


164  BENEVOLENT   PRINCIPLE    PROMISES   MORE. 

its  blessings  with  any  other  portion,  that  the  law  of  tithes 
would  be  an  effectual  barrier  to  its  introduction  among 
them.  Under  what  condition  are  those  wandering  clans 
that  infest  the  American  forests,  or  those  who  hide  them- 
selves from  the  rigors  of  perpetual  winter  in  the  caves  of 
Greenland,  to  give  a  tenth  of  all,  when  their  whole  pos- 
session amounts  to  scarcely  sufficient  for  a  bare  subsist- 
ence ?  With  such  an  appendage  to  fetter  its  movements, 
the  gospel  would  find  it  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  to  per- 
form the  errand  of  mercy  and  good  will,  upon  which  it  is 
sent  into  all  the  world. 

While  we  concede,  however,  that  the  law  of  tithes,  as 
it  existed  among  the  Jews,  has  been  repealed,  we  think  it 
may  be  clearly  shown  that  men  who  inhabit  productive 
portions  of  the  earth,  and  who  have  the  means,  cannot  act 
upon  the  spirit  of  the  New  Testament  without  devoting  to 
God  an  amount  that  shall  rather  exceed  than  fall  short  of 
that  proportion.  The  truth  appears  to  be  this,  that  our 
Saviour  omitted  to  transfer  the  law  of  tithes  into  the  polity 
of  the  Christian  church,  not  because  he  expected  less,  but 
because  the  benevolent  principle  which  he  aimed  at  esta. 
blishing,  as  the  grand  peculiarity  of  his  dispensation,  pro- 
mised,  by  the  vigor  of  its  own  nature,  to  turn  a  still  larger 
proportion  into  channels  of  mercy  and  good  will.  He 
taught  the  doctrine  of  entire  consecration  in  body,  soul, 
and  spirit,*  and  required  that  holiness  unto  the  Lord 
should  be  written,  not  merely  upon  the  tenth  of  our  sub- 
stance, but  upon  the  whole.     And  it  is  impossible  to  act 

♦  See  the  next  chapter. 


ADVANCED    STATE    OF    RELIGION.  165 

up  to  the  spirit  of  his  precept  and  example,  without  bring- 
ing our  whole  existence,  physical,  intellectual,  and  naoral, 
into  captivity  to  His  cause,  and  the  greatest  good  of  our 
race. 

That  the  law  of  Christ  cannot  be  fulfilled  without  the 
direct  sacrifice  of  more  than  a  tenth  of  the  aggregated 
wealth  in  the  hands  of  the  church,  may  be  made  to  appear 
fi'om  a  variety  of  considerations. 

1.  The  present  advanced  stage  to  which  revealed  reli- 
gion has  attained,  gives  a  right  to  expect  that  it  should 
produce  voluntary  contributions  exceeding  the  proportion 
of  a  tenth  of  all.  Even  in  the  infancy  of  the  heaven-born 
principle,  while  few  channels  of  beneficence  were  yet 
open,  and  no  organized  plans  of  doing  good  existed  ;  and 
while  the  rites  of  religion  were  the  simplest  imaginable, 
the  voluntary  sacrifices  of  treasure  to  which  it  impelled 
its  votaries,  equalled,  and  in  some  cases  exceeded,  a  tenth 
of  their  whole  income.  This  was  the  proportion  oflfered 
by  Abraham  to  Melchisedek,  in  virtue  of  his  office  as 
priest  of  the  Most  High  God  ;  and  the  vow  of  Jacob  con- 
templated the  offering  of  a  tenth  of  all  his  income.  These 
transactions  took  their  rise  in  such  a  manner,  as  to  make 
it  evident,  that  the  religion  1o  which  they  owed  their  ori- 
gin, would  lead  those  in  all  ages  upon  whom  it  should  be 
in  a  condition  to  produce  its  legitimate  results,  to  act  with 
a  like  liberality.  They  were  not  the  fruit  of  a  system  or 
constitution  of  things,  but  the  outbreakings  of  a  piety, 
which  had  attained  such  a  degree  of  progress,  as  to  im- 
pose, by  the  vigor  of  its  own  nature,  sacrifices  in  property 
to  this  amount.     And  if  piety,  at  that  early  period  of  its 


166  A   PROGRESSIVE    PRINCIPLE. 

history,  produced  such  results,  what  ought  we  not  to 
expect  from  the  present  superior  advantages  for  its  culti- 
vation ? 

Revealed  religion  has  had  its  infancy,  its  childhood, 
its  youth,  its  manhood,  and  will  have  its  old  age,  not  of 
decay,  but  of  increasing  vigor.  Its  developments  have 
been  gradual,  as  adapted  to  the  progress  of  human  nature 
in  knowledge  and  experience.  As  man  has  increased  in 
his  strength  to  bear,  God  has  increased  the  burdens  to  be 
borne  ;  thus,  as  a  kind  father,  proportioning  his  require- 
ments to  our  ability.  There  was  a  time  when  some  of 
the  most  important  duties  were  not  known,  and  of  course 
not  binding  ;  and  when,  in  accommodation  to  the  weak- 
ness of  human  nature,  polygamy,  retaliation  of  injuries, 
and  other  practices,  which  are  in  themselves  wrong,  were 
allowed. 

Every  new  disclosure  leads  to  new  modifications  of 
duty ;  and  the  scenes  both  of  Sinai  and  Calvary  placed 
the  obligations  of  men  permanently  in  advance  of  what 
they  were  before.  Progression,  not  retrogression,  is  the 
motto  of  religion.  When  she  has  advanced  to  a  certain 
stage,  and  has  thrown  upon  the  human  mind  a  certain 
amount  of  light,  it  is  impossible  for  it  to  fall  back  into  the 
condition,  in  regard  to  its  obligations,  that  it  was  in  before 
that  point  was  gained.  As  well  may  the  wheel  of  life 
roll  backward,  instead  of  advancing  to  its  final  termina- 
tion. And  now,  is  it  to  be  supposed  that  the  imperfect 
disclosures  of  religion  in  the  times  of  Abraham  and  Jacob, 
should  lead  to  the  voluntary  sacrifice  of  a  tenth  in  pro^ 
perty,  while  we,  who  live  under  the  full  blaze  of  gospel 


NECESSITY   OF    VENT   TO    OUR   SURPLUS    STORES.      167 

light — a  light  which  has  placed  the  claims  of  duty  upon 
us  in  Other  respects  so  far  in  advance  of  what  they  were 
before— are  left  more  at  liberty  to  indulge  a  sordid  and 
exclusive  spirit.  Are  our  obligations  to  the  voluntary 
sacrifice  of  property,  thrown  back  to  the  point  which  they 
occupied  before  the  times  of  Abraham  and  Jacob  1  Did 
these  obligations  undergo  a  process  of  retrogression  by 
the  very  means  which  have  extended  the  claims  of  heaven 
upon  us  in  all  other  respects  ;  so  that,  whereas  Jacob  was 
impelled  to  the  voluntary  sacrifice  of  a  tenth  of  his  in- 
come, we  are  only  bound  to  give  a  twentieth,  a  hundredth, 
or  none  at  all,  as  passion,  convenience,  or  cupidity  may 
dictate  1     No  supposition  can  be  more  preposterous. 

2.  The  proportion  must  exceed  a  tenth,  in  order,  on  the 
one  hand,  to  afford  sufficient  vent  to  the  surplus  stores  in  the 
hands  of  the  church,  and  on  the  other,  to  adapt  it  to  the  ne- 
cessities of  human  nature.  There  is  probably  no  one  source 
from  which  the  Christian  church  is  at  this  moment  suffering 
to  the  same  extent,  as  from  the  amount  of  wealth  acquired,  or 
means  of  acquiring,  which  either  lies  dead  about  the  per- 
sons of  her  members,  or  is  employed  irrespective  of  the 
claims  of  the  religion  which  they  profess.  All  that  infi- 
delity, paganism,  Rome,  or  hell  can  do,  to  obstruct  the 
march  of  her  cause,  is  trifling,  compared  with  the  worldly 
and  exclusive  spirit  in  her  own  sons  and  daughters.  They 
are  proverbially  guilty  in  many  cases  of  a  niggardliness 
in  the  management  of  their  estates,  that  we  do  not  find  in 
the  men  of  the  world  ;  and  it  is  oflen  more  difficult  to  ex- 
tract money  from  them  for  any  object  of  public  utility, 
than  from  their  infidel  neighbors.     The  church  is  ren- 


168  HOW  TO   PREVENT   INFLAMMATION. 

dered  sordid  and  miserly  by  this  exclusive  spirit  on  the 
part  of  her  members,  her  spiritual  graces  are  stinted  in 
their  growth,  the  tone  of  her  feeling  is  secular  and  carnal, 
and  all  the  evils  of  plethory  and  abundance  are  betrayed 
in  her  constitution. 

Now,  there  is  no  way  of  remedying  these  evils,  but 
by  embarking  in  plans  of  benevolent  enterprise  on  a 
scale  sufficiently  ample,  to  drain  off  all  the  surplus  stores 
of  the  church,  beyond  a  moderate  provision  for  the  wants 
of  a  civilized  and  cultivated  state.  Without  some  such 
extended  system  of  depletion,  she  will  become  gross  in 
her  feelings,  and  all  her  moral  machinery  will  be  fettered 
in  its  movements.  A  hundredth,  a  fiftieth,  or  even  a 
tenth,  would  no  more  obviate  the  evil,  than  the  loss  of  a 
few  drops  of  blood  from  a  highly  inflamed  constitution 
would  reduce  the  sources  of  its  inflammation,  and  restore  a 
healthy  circulation.  Ministers  may  inculcate  piety  and 
growth  in  grace  ;  the  members  of  the  church  may  have 
continual  meetings  of  prayer  and  exhortation  ;  revivals 
may  be  multiplied  ;  and  every  possible  endeavor  m.ay  be 
used  to  raise  the  standard  of  holy  living  ;  but  it  will  be  in 
vain,  so  long  as  Christians  hold  on  to  their  accumulations. 
We  may  as  well  undertake  to  make  a  family  healthy, 
into  which  we  have  introduced  an  infectious  disease,  as  to 
make  the  church  flourishing  in  religion,  so  long  as  the 
tartarean  dregs  of  wealth  live  in  her  affections,  absorb 
her  anxieties,  and  control  her  plans  of  acting.  This 
is  a  pregnant  source  of  apostacy  to  her  members,  and  will 
remain  so,  till  she  adopts  the  principle  of  prosecuting 
plana  of  worldly  business,  not  merely  with  the  view  of 


MORAL  AND  INTELLECTITAL  DESTITUTION.  169 

giving  a  tenth,  but  of  employing  all  beyond  an  economical 
supply  of  her  own  wants,  for  the  good  of  her  race. 

Moreover,  the  moral  and  intellectual  destitution  which 
the  church  is  called  upon  to  supply,  cannot  be  met  short 
of  a  draught  upon  her  resources  far  exceeding  a  tenth  of 
all  her  income.  The  supply  of  six  hundred  milHons  with 
Bibles,  tracts,  Sunday  schools,  missionaries,  and  other 
means  of  intellectual  and  moral  elevation,  cannot  be  effect- 
ed without  exhausting  all  the  surplus  stores  which  the 
church  may  acquire,  by  the  vigorous  exertion  of  the  pro- 
ductive powers  at  her  command.  The  Macedonian  cry, 
COME  AND  HELP,  is  borne  to  our  ears  on  all  the  breezes  of 
heaven ;  plans  for  meeting  this  call,  are,  to  a  great  extent, 
organized  to  our  hand  ;  and  we  have  only  to  wield  the 
powers  with  which  God  has  intrusted  us,  in  subordination 
to  His  high  and  holy  claims,  and  the  result  will  tell  glori- 
ously upon  the  interests  of  man  and  the  cause  of  God. 
How  can  Christians  mistake  the  nature  or  extent  of  the 
demand  which  God  is  in  this  way  making  upon  their 
worldly  resources  ? 

Thus,  the  need  in  which  perishing  millions  stand  of 
our  surplus  stores,  concurs  with  the  danger  to  ourselves 
of  retaining  them  in  our  own  possession,  to  establish  the 
principle  that  we  are  bound  to  employ  the  whole,  beyond 
an  economical  supply  for  ourselves  and  families,  as  a 
gratuity  for  the  wants  and  woes  of  human  nature.  We 
have  only  to  look  at  the  resources  in  the  hands  of  church 
members,  and  at  their  means  of  acquiring,  to  be  con- 
vinced  that  the  sacrifice  of  no  more  than  a  tenth,  must 
come  far  short  of  securing  them  against  the  formidable 
15 


170        HOW  TO  BE  SECURE  AGAINST  EVIL  OF  RICHES. 

dangers  of  overloaded  abundance.  Formidable,  I  say  ; 
for  I  challenge  the  world  to  show  a  single  instance,  in 
which  a  Christian  has  indulged  the  passion  of  accumulation, 
beyond  a  very  moderate  degree,  without  serious  detriment 
to  his  own  piety  and  usefulness.  I  know  of  instances  in 
which  pious  men,  and  even  ministers,  who  are  largely 
etigaged  in  promoting  enterprises  of  benevolence,  have 
suddenly  come  into  possession  of  estates  to  the  amount  of 
twenty-five,  thirty,  and  even  fifty  thousand  dollars.  In 
the  piety  of  these  men,  in  the  integrity  of  their  measures  of 
acquiring,  and  in  the  purity  of  their  intentions,  I  have  the 
utmost  confidence.  And  if  there  are  men  on  earth  who 
are  out  of  danger  from  wealth,  I  believe  these  are  the 
men.  Yet,  if  they  retain  these  accumulations  in  their 
own  hands  five  or  ten  years,  without  betraying  fearful 
signs  of  decay  in  the  energy  of  the  benevolent  principle 
within  them,  I  shall  begin  to  think  that  the  age  of  miracles 
has  returned.  The  remark  of  a  certain  pious  lady  upon 
unexpectedly  receiving  four  or  five  hundred  dollars,  "I 
must  give  one  hundred  of  it  immediately,  before  it  makes 
me  selfish,"  shows  great  knowledge  of  the  human  charac- 
ter. The  heart  never  fails  to  be  withered  by  holding  on 
to  such  accumulations  for  the  time  being,  even  though  it 
may  be  with  the  purpose  of  giving  them  ultimately.  The 
way  to  secure  ourselves  from  danger  is,  to  pour  them  out 
upon  the  alleviation  of  wo,  cis  fast  as  the  providence  of 
God  pours  them  into  our  hands,  before  they  have  time  to 
stagnate  and  infect  our  feelings  with  their  poisonous 
miasmata.  Thus,  to  obviate  the  danger  arising  from 
retaining  any  thing  beyond  a  moderate  provision  of  wealth 


PROPORTION  OF  LABOR  DUE  TO  WEALTH.  171 

for  ourselves,  and  to  meet  the  vast  destitution  of  our 
species,  it  seems  to  be  made  necessary,  and  God  doubtless 
intends,  that  we  should  sacrifice  upon  the  altar  of  bene- 
ficence much  more  than  a  tenth  of  all  our  income.  The 
precise  amount  can  only  be  fixed,  by  regarding  circum- 
stances, and  the  extent  of  our  surplus  stores. 

A  question  here  recurs,  which  we  cannot  content  our- 
selves to  pass  without  some  attention — how  will  Christiana 
be  secured  against  the  evil  of  excessive  accumulations, 
when  the  mass  of  men  come  to  be  so  elevated,  (as  we 
hope  they  may  in  the  millenium,)  as  to  place  them  above 
the  necessity  of  the  gratuities  of  the  church  t  How  then 
shall  we  find  vent  for  our  surplus  stores?  This  question 
resolves  itself  into  another:  What  proportion  of  the  whole 
capacity  for  action  and  exertion  of  which  men  are  pos- 
sessed, ought  to  be  devoted  to  the  accumulation  of  wealth  ? 
When  the  mass  of  human  existence  becomes  so  elevated 
as  to  supersede  the  necessity  of  charitable  offerings,  then, 
to  secure  the  character  of  man  against  the  evil  of  wealth, 
more  just  views,  and  a  more  consistent  practice,  must  pre- 
vail, in  regard  to  the  amount  of  labor  to  be  devoted  to 
the  physical  callings. 

The  human  mind  has  already  reached  a  stage  in  its 
onward  career,  in  which  this  has  become  a  question  of 
the  utmost  importance.  As  yet,  it  has  received  little  at- 
tention in  theory,  and  still  less  in  practice.  As  a  conse- 
quence of  our  general  contempt  of  the  claims  of  benefi- 
cence, and  our  prevailing  impression  that  to  make  money 
is  the  chief  end  of  ouf  existence  in  the  body,  we  have 
gone  on  inventing  imaginary  wants,  in  order  to  make  way 


172  MIND  SUBJECTED  TO  MATTER. 

for  expending  our  superabundance  upon  ourselves,  till 
they  have  become  vastly  more  numerous  than  our  real 
wants.  Hence,  our  children  no  sooner  open  their  eyes 
upon  the  world,  than  they  find  wants  enough  produced  by 
the  artificial  condition  which  we  have  prepared  for  them, 
to  exhaust  almost  the  sole  energy  of  their  lives  in  the 
drudgery  of  obtaining  a  supply.  Their  bodily  appetites 
and  imaginary  necessities  are  the  vortex  which  swallows 
up  nearly  all  the  results  of  their  most  untiring  and  labo- 
rious industry.  The  whole  course  of  things  is  changed  ; 
instead  of  subjecting  matter  to  mind,  in  the  education  of 
posterity,  mind  is  subjected  to  matter.  They  are  made 
to  feel  under  our  training,  that  their  intellectual  and  mo- 
ral development  is  to  be  sought,  only  so  far  as  it  may  be 
made  to  subserve  an  honorable  and  successful  business 
career.  Do  not  the  most  of  those  who  claim  the  honor- 
able title  of  parent,  consider  their  object  gained,  when 
they  have  acquainted  their  children  with  the  art  of  mak- 
ing an  honest  worldly  fortune  ?  Is  not  all  that  is  digni- 
fied in  mind,  and  exalted  in  morals  reduced,  by  most  of 
our  systems  of  youthful  training,  to  a  state  of  slavery  to 
matter.  The  total  violation  of  reason  and  religion,  which 
is  produced  by  such  a  course  of  things,  may  be  seen 
>vithout  argument  or  illustration. 

If  we  will  only  look  at  the  relation  which  merely 
physical  good  sustains  to  the  other  means  of  happiness  to 
man,  we  shall  find  little  difficulty  in  determining  the  pro- 
portion of  attention  and  labor,  which  we  ought  to  bestow 
upon  the  acquisition  of  such  good.  This  relation  is  the 
same  with  that  of  matter  to  mind,  of  animal  gratifications 
to  the  pleasures  of  holiness,  of  the  clayey  tabernacle  to 


MATTER  THE  SCAFFOLDING  TO  RUIN.  173 

its  immortal  tenant.  Physical  good  is  merely  the  scaffold- 
ing to  be  used  in  rearing  the  intellectual  and  moral  edi- 
iice,  to  be  taken  down  when  that  object  is  gained,  that  it 
may  not  mar  the  beauty  and  glory  of  the  building.  To 
allow  ourselves  to  become  absorbed  in  such  good,  to  the 
neglect  of  that  which  is  moral  and  intellectual,  is  vastly 
more  irrational  than  it  would  be,  in  the  architect,  to  ex- 
haust all  his  labor  and  expense  upon  the  scaffolding,  to  the 
total  neglect  of  the  edifice  which  he  designed  to  rear. 
The  course  he  pursues  is  to  lay  out  just  so  much  labor 
upon  the  scaffolding,  as  to  make  it  a  convenient  instrument 
for  erecting  the  building.  Precisely  such  should  be  our 
course  in  regard  to  the  pursuit  of  physical  good.  We 
need  just  enough  to  give  our  intellectual  and  moral  ener- 
gies suitable  play  and  scope  ;  but  no  more.  All  beyond 
this  will  obstruct  our  attainment  of  the  greatest  good  of 
which  our  natures  are  capable. 

As  the  necessities  of  the  world  diminish,  therefore, 
still  ampler  means  will  be  afforded  for  the  cultivation  of 
those  exalted  and  imperishable  qualities,  in  which  the  true 
dignity  of  man  consists.  And  in  the  same  ratio  with  the 
decrease  in  the  demand  of  labor  for  the  meat  that  perish- 
eth,  will  be  our  increased  opportunities  of  laboring  for  that 
which  endureth  unto  life  everlasting.  The  time  may  per- 
haps arrive,  when  physical  labor  will  be  no  more  in  pro- 
portion to  all  the  energies  wielded  by  human  nature,  than 
the  deep  foundation  of  a  vast  edifice,  of  which  we  lose  the 
view,  on  account  of  being  absorbed  by  the  glory  and  mag 
nificence  of  the  superstructure.  When  intellect  and  mor- 
als shall  have  attained  such  an  ascendancy  otci  bcdil} 
15* 


174  T7LT1MATE  OBJECT  OF  PIOUS  OFFERINGS. 

gratifications,  in  the  regards  and  labors  of  human  life, 
then  the  ties  that  bind  us  to  the  universe  of  mind,  and  to 
the  throne  of  the  Supreme  Inteliigence,  will  have  taken 
such  hold  upon  us,  that  our  connections  with  matter  will 
sink  to  a  rank  of  extreme  subordination. 

To  effect  a  consummation  so  devoutly  to  be  desired, 
was  the  object  of  our  Saviour's  coming  to  this  world,  and 
is  the  design  of  his  church,  so  far  as  she  acts  upon  the 
commission  of  her  Lord.  How,  long,  therefore,  ere  she 
will  awake  from  the  dust  of  her  slavery  to  matter,  and 
put  on  her  robes  of  intelligence  and  purity,  that  she  may 
appear  as  a  bride  adorned  for  her  husband  ?  How  long 
ere  Christians  will  make  the  worthlessness  of  this  world 
appear,  to  the  same  extent  in  practice,  that  they  now  do 
in  profession  ?  This  they  can  never  do,  till  they  make  it 
manifest  that  their  labors  for  wealth  are  not  designed  to 
gratify  a  sordid  passion,  but  to  enable  them  to  do  good  to 
the  souls  of  men,  and  to  glorify  Him  who  died  for  them 
and  rose  again. 

3.  The  identity  of  the  ultimate  object  of  pecuniary  of- 
ferings, under  the  different  dispensations,  would  seem  to 
indicate  that  there  should  be  no  falling  off  as  to  the 
amount.  Whatever  differences  may  exist  in  the  direct  or 
specific  object  on  which  the  patriarch,  the  Jew,  or  the 
Christian,  bestowed  his  pious  offerings,  the  ultimate  object 
was  the  same — the  hcnor  of  Christ,  and  the  advancement 
of  his  reign  on  earth.  The  tithes  of  Abraham,  though 
they  went  directly  into  the  hands  of  Melchizedek,  were, 
doubtless,  presented  with  a  view  to  the  office  of  Christ,  as 
priest  and  intercessor.     That  prince  is  said  to.  have  been. 


THE  REIGN  OF  CHRIST  ON  EARTH.  175 

in  reference  to  his  priesthood,  without  father,  without 
mother,  without  descent,  having  neither  beginning  of  days» 
nor  end  of  life  ;  but  nnade  like  unto  the  Son  of  God,  abi- 
deth  a  priest  continually.*  Hence,  from  the  apostle's  rea- 
soning in  connection  with  this  passage,  it  would  appear 
that  it  was  for  the  honor  of  Christ,  of  whom  Melchizedek 
was  a  remarkable  type,  and  as  an  expression  of  faith  in 
the  blood  of  atonement,  which  he  was  to  oifer  for  the  sins 
of  mankind,  thai  the  tithes  of  the  father  of  the  faithful  were 
intended.  And  what,  but  a  view  of  the  medium  of  inter- 
course between  earth  and  heaven  through  Christ,  which 
was  presented  to  Jacob  in  his  vision  of  the  ladder  on  which 
the  angels  of  God  ascended  and  descended,  called  forth 
from  him  the  offering  of  a  tenth  of  all  ?  To  support  those 
institutions,  also,  which  were  designed  to  pave  the  way 
for  the  coming  of  Christ  and  the  establishment  of  his 
kingdom,  all  of  which  sustained  to  Him  the  relation  of  a 
shadow  to  its  substance,  was  the  object  of  tithes  under  the 
Mosaic  dispensation. 

And  for  what  are  we  required  to  make  our  offerings, 
but  to  advance  the  cause  of  Christ,  and  to  accomplish  those 
merciful  purposes,  in  relation  to  the  bodies  and  souls  of 
men,  for  which  he  labored,  prayed,  and  wrought  mira- 
cles while  on  earth  ;  for  which  he  poured  out  his  life  upon 
the  cross ;  for  which  he  rose  from  the  dead,  and  commis- 
sioned his  disciples  to  preach  the  gospel  to  every  crea- 
ture ?  Every  offering  in  treasure  which  we  now  make  in 
accordance  with  the  principles  of  the  Bible,  whether  given 
directly  to  relieve  temporal   want,  to  remove  ignorance 

♦  Heb.  vii— 3. 


176     THIS  OBJECT  CALLS  AS  LOUDLY  AS  EVER. 

and  vice,  or  to  furnish  the  means  of  future  salvation,  has 
the  honor  of  Christ  as  the  Saviour  of  sinners  for  its  ulti- 
mate  object.  Hence,  the  gratuities  of  every  dispensation 
centre  in  the  same  grand  point. 

As,  therefore,  the  proportion  of  a  tenth  began  in  some 
cases  to  be  offered  by  the  patriarchs  as  a  voluntary  thing  ; 
as  this  proportion  was  required  by  law  under  the  Hebrew 
Theocracy ;  how  can  we  be  excused  in  presenting  less  ? 
We  are  not  speaking  of  arbitrary  enforcements  ;  for  those, 
as  we  have  already  said,  were  confined  to  the  past  dis- 
pensation— but  we  are  now  inquiring  after  the  results, 
which  the  spirit  of  the  religion  we  profess  is  adapted  to 
produce.  It  was  not  an  arbitrary  enactment  that  led  Ja- 
cob to  sacrifice  a  tenth  of  all ;  yet,  he  seems  to  have  con- 
sidered it  his  duty  to  present  that  amount.  And  is  not 
the  call  upon  us  as  urgent  as  upon  him  ?  Are  we  less 
privileged  than  he?  Is  the  priesthood  of  Christ  less  in  a 
condition  to  be  aided  in  its  objects  by  the  sacrifice  of 
treasure  nowt  than  then  ?  How  far  otherwise  is  the  fact  1 
Never  was  there  a  time  since  the  foundation  of  the  world, 
when  money  could  be  made  to  advance  the  reign  of  Christ 
on  earth  in  so  many  ways,  or  by  such  rapid  steps,  as  at 
the  present  period.  From  what  source,  therefore,  do  we 
derive  our  logic,  that  we  are  not  bound  to  give  as  much, 
or  more,  than  in  the  former  dispensations  ?  It  cannot  be 
from  the  New  Testament ;  for  the  example  of  the  Hero 
of  that  volume,  the  doctrines  he  taught,  and  the  lives  of 
his  immediate  followers,  would  lead  us  to  suppose  that 
our  offerings  should  greatly  exceed  the  proportion  of  a 
tenth,  rather  than  that  they  should   fall  short   of  that 


HOW  TO  INTERPRET  THE  COMMANDS  OF  CHRIST.      177 

amount.     But  on  this  topic  we  shall  have  occasion  to 
dwell  more  at  large  under  the  following  head. 

4.  Though  there  is  no  transfer  of  the  law  of  tithes 
into  the  New  Testament,  yet,  the  commands  of  Christ,  as 
interpreted  and  acted  upon  by  the  primitive  church,  evi- 
dently require  of  us  the  sacrifice  of  more  than  a  tenth.  It 
must  be  perceived  by  all,  that  commands  which  cannot 
be  obeyed  without  making  sacrifices  exceeding  thai  pro- 
portion, amount  to  an  explicit  requirement  of  such  sacri- 
fices. The  father's  command  upon  his  son  to  carry  a 
burden  often  pounds  weight,  is  tantamount  to  requiring  him 
to  put  forth  a  sufficient  degree  of  muscular  strength  to  carry 
that  weight,  since  the  command  involves  such  an  exertion 
of  strength,  and  cannot  be  obeyed  without.  It  is  precise- 
ly thas  with  those  commandments  which  are  at  the  basis  of 
the  Christian  institution.  They  canot  be  acted  upon  by 
the  church,  short  of  sacrifices  in  property  that  shall  exceed 
the  tenth  of  all  her  income. 

How  can  the  gospel  be  preached  to  every  creature, 
the  ignorant  be  taught,  the  sick  and  imprisoned  visited 
and  relieved,  correctives  be  applied  to  the  vices  and  errors 
of  mankind,  and  the  mass  of  human  existence  be  propel- 
led forward  in  the  career  of  dignity  and  improvement,  till 
it  reaches  the  illustrious  elevation  contemplated  in  the 
times  of  the  millenium,  unless  the  benevolent  principle  in 
the  church,  shall  have  attained  such  an  ascendancy,  that 
the  stinted  proportion  of  a  tithe  shall  be  no  longer  able  to 
circumscribe  the  amount  of  her  pious  gratuities?  And 
yet,  that  the  spirit  of  our  Saviour's  requirements  embra- 
ced the  accomplishment  of  all  this  good  to  man,  was  well 


178  CHURCH   ORGANIZED    FOR  WAR. 

understood  by  the  primitive  church  ;  and  she  formed  her 
plans  of  action  and  sacrifice  on  a  proportionate  scale. 
She  threw  her  whole  physical,  as  well  as  moral  and  intel- 
lectual energies,  into  the  work  of  propagating  her  faith. 
Hers  was  an  organization,  not  for  quiet  enjoyment  and 
spiritual  luxuriance,  but  for  offensive  war  and  deadly  on- 
set. She  felt  that  she  had  attained  a  point  in  the  march 
of  religion  on  earth,  like  that  which  Leonidas  and  his 
dauntless  band  occupied  in  regard  to  the  freedom  of 
Greece,  which  required  that  she  should  throw  herself  into 
the  moral  Thermopylse,  and  there,  before  the  bra- 
zen front  of  armed  millions,  dispute  with  hell  the  palm  of 
victory,  till  the  soil  should  be  drenched  with  the  last  drop 
of  her  life's  blood.  Had  her  course  been  different — had 
she  sought  an  organization  to  make  her  members  quiet 
and  happy,  like  that  of  her  pretended  successors  of  this 
age,  she  would  not  so  soon  have  shaken  the  social  fabric 
to  its  centre,  nor  extorted  from  the  dignitaries  of  Rome  the 
homage  to  the  despised  Nazarine,  of  casting  their  crowns 
at  his  feet.  She  would  not  so  soon  have  spread  discom- 
fiture and  dismay  among  the  old  superstitions,  which  had 
entrenched  themselves  around  with  prejudice  invincible, 
with  precedents  ancient  as  time,  and  with  an  array  of 
passions,  arts  and  arms.  Can  any  one,  after  reading  the  his- 
tory of  the  first  age  of  Christianity,  doubt  whether  the 
commands  of  Christ  were  then  interpreted  to  require  in 
worldly  property  a  tenth  of  all?  Oh,  this  proportion 
would  not  have  covered  a  hundredth  part  of  the  sacrifices 
actually  made  by  the  first  Christians,  in  fulfilling  what 
they  understood  to  be  the  requirements  of  their  Master ! 


VAST  TERRITORIES  YET  TO  BE  SUBDUED.  179 

And  now,  has  the  revolution  of  ages  wrought  any 
change  in  the  spirit  of  our  Saviour's  precepts  ?  Has  it 
blunted  their  force,  or  circumscribed  the  range  of  their 
influence  ?  Or  have  sacrifices  in  money  lost  the  power 
to  aid  the  accomplishment  of  His  merciful  designs  ?  It  is 
far  otherwise.  There  was  never  a  time  when  such  sac- 
rifices could  be  made  to  tell  more  decidedly,  or  more  ex- 
tensively, upon  the  interests  of  mankind,  than  since  modern 
discoveries  have  spread  around  us  their  splendid  results. 
With  the  present  improved  state  of  the  art  of  printing, 
nothing  is  wanting  but  the  pecuniary  means,  to  render 
copies  of  the  word  of  God  equal  to  the  number  of  families 
upon  earth;  to  deluge  the  world  with  tracts,  and  other 
instruments  of  knowledge  ;  and  thus,  to  render  it  not  only 
possible  for  men  to  know  something  of  the  Christian  reli- 
gion, but  impossible  that  they  should  continue  in  igno- 
rance. The  word  of  life  is  translated  into  the  languages 
of  Hindoostan,  of  Burmah,  and  of  China,  which  are  sup- 
posed to  be  spoken  by  nearly  five  hundred  millions  of  im- 
mortal beings  ;  and  the  most  that  is  needed  to  line  the 
coasts  of  that  vast  section  of  the  globe  with  copi(^s  of  the 
truth-speaking  book,  is  the  means  of  defraying  the  ex- 
pent-e.  The  paper  may  be  had  ;  men  may  be  hired  to 
perform  the  mechanical  labor,  or  to  freight  their  ships 
with  the  precious  cargo,  to  be  borne  by  heaven's  propi- 
tious gales  from  centre  to  circumference  of  that  dark  and 
wide-spread  area  of  human  crime  and  moral  desolation. 
The  way  is  open  for  introducing  millions  more  of  children 
into  the  light  of  a  Christian  education  ;  for  vastly  increas- 
ing the  number  of  young  men  educated  for  usefulness  in 


180      DIRECT  EFFORTS  OF  ALL  THE  CHURCH  NEEDED. 

the  ministry  and  other  departments  of  benevolent  labor ; 
and  for  multiplying  missionaries  and  all  other  auxiliaries 
in  the  work  of  well-doing,  provided  the  necessary  resour- 
ces were  poured  into  the  treasury  of  Zion. 

The  time  has  come  when  the  primitive  practice  of 
embarking  the  direct  efforts  of  all  the  church  in  the  work 
of  propagating  her  faith,  instead  of  confining  them  to  the 
clerical  profession,  needs  to  be  revived.  Why  should  mi- 
nisters monopolize  this  labor  ?  Would  that  all  the  Lord's 
people  were  prophets  ;  that  the  weak  were  as  David,  and 
the  house  of  David  as  the  angel  of  God  !  The  whole 
church  must  become  "  instinct  with  life ;"  and  like  the 
polypus,  though  it  were  cut  into  as  many  fragments  as 
there  are  members,  and  scattered  to  as  many  points  on 
the  surface  of  the  globe,  each  fragment  must  embody  so 
much  of  the  energy  of  divine  life,  and  so  much  of  the 
impulsive  power  of  the  gospel,  as  to  become  in  itself  a 
complete  organization  of  benevolent  and  holy  action.  In 
this  way,  the  living  forms  of  mercy  and  good  will  might 
be  at  once  multiplied  to  an  indefinite  extent,  and  there 
might  spring  up  simultaneously  over  the  whole  valley  of 
dry  bones,  an  exceeding  great  army,  clothed  with  sinews 
and  muscles,  and  animated  by  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord. 

At  the  rate  of  movement  required  by  our  present  no- 
tions, however,  that  the  laborer  on  foreign  shores  must 
have  an  extra-divine  call,  over  and  above  the  energy 
of  the  Christian  principle  within  him,  and  that  his  brain 
must  be  gorged  with  all  the  lore  of  ancient  and  modern 
learning,  it  will  require  a  million  of  years  for  the  beams  of 
truth   and  holiness  to  traverse  the  continent  of  darkness. 


PROSPECT  OF  A  CONFLUENCE  OF  BLOODS.  181 

Things  cannot  go  on  at  this  rate  much  longer.  No !  no  ! 
the  Lord  is  even  now  pouring  out  upon  his  people,  an 
energy  of  feeling  for  the  heathen  world,  that  is  just  ready- 
to  break  through  our  cautious  restraints,  and  deluge  the 
nations  with  the  means  of  salvation.  And  if  a  general 
call  were  made  upon  the  church  for  volunteers,  there  are 
thousands  of  mechanics,  farmers,  and  merchants,  whose 
piety  is  as  deep-toned  as  that  of  the  ministry,  who  would 
rejoice  to  enter  the  army  of  benevolence  upon  foreign 
shores.  Colonies  of  pious  persons  of  both  sexes,  might 
be  transferred  to  different  points  along  the  coasts  of  dark- 
ness, to  become  identified  with  the  native  inhabitants  in 
costume,  manners,  and  all  but  their  crimes  and  idolatries ; 
and  thus,  in  the  most  effectual  way  possible,  contribute  to 
the  triumph  of  virtue  and  truth  over  the  human  character. 
And  should  a  confluence  of  bloods,  together  with  the  melt- 
ing down  of  the  species  into  one  mass,  follow  in  the  train 
of  this  great  work,  the  friends  of  man  would  not,  probably, 
see  cause  in  the  end  to  regret  the  result.  We  are  no  ad- 
vocates for  the  physical  amalgamation  of  the  human 
species.  The  process  is  utterly  abhorrent  to  our  feelings. 
But,  in  despite  of  our  fastidiousness,  we  caimot  be  blind  to 
the  process,  bad  as  it  may  be  in  itself,  which  is  now  tending 
to  this  result.  And  we  fancy  that  we  can  detect  in  it  the 
operation  of  that  Unseen  Hand,  who  maketh  the  wrath  of 
man  to  praise  Him,  bringing  on  the  glorious  consummation, 
when  "  every  man  in  every  face  shall  see  a  brother  and  a 
friend."  Whatever  practical  bearings  upon  the  question 
of  physical  amalgamation,  may  be  exerted  by  the  trans- 
fer of  masses  of  human  being  from  the  luminous  to  the 
16 


182  LAY-AGENCIES  IN  DOING  GOOD. 

dark  portions  of  the  earth,  there  can  be  no  objection  to 
such  a  transfer,  so  long  as  it  is  confined  to  the  single  ob- 
ject of  advancing  the  intellectual  and  moral  well-being  of 
the  world.  There  can  be  no  objection  to  having  many- 
run  to  and  fro  in  the  earth,  if  knowledge  is  only  increased. 
Why,  therefore,  should  we  disdain  lay- agencies  in  doing 
good,  when  the  apostles  both  received  and  commended 
those  women  who  labored  with  them  in  the  gospel  ?  We 
would  not  have  them  sent  out  unaccompanied  by  those 
who  should  be  gifted  with  the  stores  of  learning.  No  : 
the  phalanx  would  not  be  complete,  unless  it  were  mar- 
shalled under  its  leaders.  But,  for  every  such  leader  we 
may  send  out  our  tens,  our  fifties,  and  our  hundreds,  whose 
chief  qualifications  shall  be  those  ofpiety,  good  sense,  a  com- 
mon degree  of  Bible  knowledge,  a  love  of  the  work,  and  a 
fearlessness  in  undertaking  it.  The  spirit  for  embarking 
in  this  holy  enterprise  is  abroad,  and  the  most  that  is 
wanted  is  the  pecuniary  means.  Will  not  the  commands 
of  Christ,  therefore,  bear  the  same  interpretation,  in  re- 
gard to  the  use  of  money,  now^  that  they  did  in  the  first 
age  of  Christianity  ? 

Suppose  the  primitive  church,  with  their  glowing  zeal^ 
indomitable  spirit,  and  unbounded  devotion,  had  been 
thrown  upon  our  times,  how  think  they  would  look  abroad 
upon  the  six  hundred  millions  to  whom  the  name  of  Jesus 
is  unknown  ?  What  views  would  they  take  of  the  press, 
of  the  present  advanced  state  of  science  and  art,  of  the 
improved  plans  of  education,  of  the  facilities  for  passing 
over  space,  of  the  favorable  bearing  of  governments 
towards  the  propagation  of  our  faith,  and  of  the  various 


PRIMITIVE  CHURCH  IN  OUR  CIRCUMSTANCES.  183 

means  of  mercy  which  are  now  in  the  power  of  the 
church  ?  Could  they  hesitate  a  moment  about  interpret- 
ing the  commands  of  Christ  into  an  obligation  of  giving 
up  more  than  a  tenth  of  all  their  worldly  income  ? 

With  an  offering  no  greater  than  a  tenth,  under  our 
circumstances,  how  would  the  Genius  of  the  Mosaic  and 
patriarchal  dispensations  rise  up  to  our  condemnation  !  If 
Abraham's  ashes  could  speak  from  the  tomb,  or  if  the 
spirit  of  Moses  could  be  attracted  to  our  mountain-tops  by 
another  transfiguration,  how  would  they  chide  our  parsi- 
mony, for  giving  only  a  tenth  where  so  much  is  demand- 
ed !  The  law  of  tithes  by  no  means  embraced  all  the 
pious  offerings  even  of  the  Israelites,  in  the  better  days 
of  their  religion  ;  and  how  much  less  ought  it  to  circum- 
scribe ours !  Such  are  some  of  the  considerations  on 
which  we  found  the  position,  that  our  Saviour  omitted  not 
to  transfer  the  law  of  tithes  into  the  economy  of  his  church, 
because  he  expected  they  would  sacrifice  less,  but  be- 
cause the  benevolent  principle  which  lie  aimed  at  estab- 
lishing, promised  to  produce  more. 

5.  On  one  point  regarding  the  amount  of  our  pious 
offerings,  the  New  Testament  Scriptures  are  very  explicit, 
and  that  is,  that  they  should  be  proportioned  to  our  pecu- 
niary ability.  This  is  in  fact  the  law  of  nature  ;  for  even 
that  teaches,  that  it  is  required  of  a  man  according  to  what 
he  has,  and  not  according  to  what  he  has  not.  If  any 
man  minister  let  him  do  it  as  of  the  ability  which  God 
giveth-*  If  there  be  first  a  willing  mind,  it  is  accepted 
of  a  man  according  to  what  he  hath,  and  not  according  to 

*  1  Peter  iv.  11. 


184         OFFERINGS  PROPORTIONED  TO  OUR  ABILITY. 

what  he  hath  not.  For  I  mean  not  that  other  men  be 
eased,  and  ye  burdened  ;  but  by  equahty,  that  now  at 
this  time  your  abundance  may  be  a  supply  oflheir  want — 
that  there  may  be  equality.*  The  first  thing  to  be 
secured  is  that  vigorous  and  diffusive  piety,  which  makes 
a  man  wilhng  to  meet  the  claims  of  duty,  to  the  utmost 
extent  of  sacrifice  which  they  may  require.  If  religion 
do  not  open  the  heart  to  feel,  to  give,  and  to  labor  for  the 
alleviation  of  human  suffering,  it  might  about  as  well  re- 
main closed.  For  no  other  motive  can  impart  to  the  gift 
the  quality  of  a  religious  offering,  or  secure  for  it  an 
efficacious  destination.  Neither  prayers  nor  alms  alone 
have  much  weight,  but  united,  they  come  up  before  God, 
and  secure  the  happiest  results. 

The  right  motive  therefore  being  gained,  the  scale  on 
which  we  are  to  graduate  our  offerings,  is  the  degree  of 
pecuniary  means  at  command.  The  design  is  that  the 
burden,  if  it  be  such,  should  press  equally  upon  the  mem- 
bers of  Christ's  body,  according  to  the  respective  strength 
of  each — that  every  bone,  sinew,  and  muscle,  should 
contribute  its  appropriate  share  in  bearing  the  ark  of  the 
covenant  and  the  mercy-seat  to  all  lands.  There  would 
be  no  justice  in  requiring  one  to  do  more  in  proportion  to 
his  ability  than  another.  Thus,  after  enforcing  com- 
mands that  cannot  be  fulfilled  short  of  sacrifices  in  proper- 
ty exceeding  a  tenth  of  all,  the  founders  of  the  Christian 
church  are  explicit,  in  requiring  that  all  its  members 
should  submit  to  be  taxed  in  proportion  to  their  ability. 

*2Cor.vu.  12-14. 


CARE  IN  JUDGING  OF  A  MAn's  ABILITY.  18f) 

They  say  nothing  to  countenance  the  present  inequality 
in  the  offerings  of  Christians. 

Great  discretion,  however,  must  be  used  in  judging  of 
a  man's  abihty  to  meet  the  claims  of  beneficence.  There 
are  some  that  have  less  property  in  possession  than  others, 
who  ought,  notwithstanding,  to  do  more.  If  a  man's 
estate  is  unproductive  and  unavailable,  it  can  be  of  little 
present  service  to  him  in  any  point  of  view.  Or  if  it 
would  not  be  his,  if  an  honest  debt  were  paid,  great  al- 
lowance must  be  made  in  determining  the  extent  of 
charity  which  he  ought  to  bestow.  Or  if  his  unavoidable 
expenses  are  greater  in  proportion  to  his  income  than 
those  of  another  man,  it  may  not  be  his  duty  to  give  any 
more,  or  even  as  much,  as  that  other.  With  little  funded 
property,  a  man  in  a  brisk  and  prosperous  business,  whose 
available  resources  are  considerable,  ought  not  to  think 
himself  burdened  to  afford  another  ease,  though  the  latter, 
with  more  property  in  hand  which  is  unproductive,  be  re- 
quired to  give  less  than  himself.  All  these  inequalities 
must  be  considered,  in  determining  the  extent  of  pious 
offerings,  that  ought  to  be  made  in  particular  cases. 

That  Christians,  however,  ought  to  make  a  conscience 
of  putting  their  property  into  a  condition,  as  far  as  possi- 
ble, that  will  admit  of  their  practising  a  beneficence  pro- 
portioned to  its  value,  there  is  no  more  reason  to  doubt, 
than  that  they  ought  to  dispose  of  their  time,  so  as  to  have 
a  portion  for  prayer  and  public  worship.  To  grasp  before- 
hand an  amount  of  property  that  will  require  all  the 
available  funds  of  every  succeeding  year  to  free  from  en- 
cumbrance, on  purpose  to  gratify  a  propensity  for  hoarding, 
16* 


186  DEBTS  CONTRACTED  AS  AN  EXCUSE  FOR  NOT  GIVING. 

is  a  practice  marked  by  features  of  guilt  as  appalling,  as 
that  of  making  secular  engagements  on  the  Sabbath,  that 
they  may  not  interfere  with  the  business  of  the  week. 
This  running  into  debt,  to  find  an  apology  for  covetous- 
ness,  is  the  ingenious  method  by  which  thousands  con- 
trive to  rob  God,  without  disturbing  their  conscience,  or 
injuring  their  reputation.  Every  church  should  have 
virtue  sufficient  to  punish  such  offenders  as  rigorously, 
as  those  who  violate  the  sanctity  of  the  Lord's  day.  Is 
it  worse  to  rob  God  of  time  than  of  money  1  Oh  !  when 
will  the  churches  of  Christ  have  the  moral  courage  to 
put  away  these  abominations  from  among  them  !  The 
toleration  of  a  few  such  members,  is  sufficient  to  secula- 
rize the  spirit  of  the  whole.  A  little  leaven  leaveneth 
the  whole  lump. 

A  departure  from  the  principle  of  equality,  in  giving, 
than  which  nothing  is  more  common,  our  Saviour  reproves, 
in  what  he  said  upon  seeing  the  people  bringing  in  their 
offerings  into  the  temple.  He  looked  up,  and  saw  the 
rich  casting  their  gifts  into  the  treasury.  And  he  saw 
also  a  poor  widow  casting  in  two  mites.  And  he  said,  Of 
a  truth,  I  say  unto  you,  that  this  poor  widow  hath  cast  in 
more  than  they  all :  for  all  these  have  of  their  abundance 
cast  in  unto  the  offerings  of  God  ;  but  she  of  her  penury 
hath  cast  in  all  the  living  that  she  had.*  Alas !  that 
among  the  professed  followers  of  Him  who  gave  this  re- 
proof, there  should  be,  up  to  this  day,  an  inequality  in 
casting  in  the  offerings  of  God,  as  gross  as  in  the  case 

♦  Luke,  xxi.  1—4. 


SIN  OF  INEQUALITY — MUST  BE  CORRECTED.  1S7 

which  He  here  notices  !  As  a  general  thing,  they  bear  no 
just  proportion  to  the  ability  of  the  donors.  Avaricious 
abundance  doles  out  its  scanty  pittance,  while  pious  indi- 
gence opens  a  liberal  hand,  and  casts  in  all  her  stores. 
How  can  the  church  slumber  over  this  enormous  evil  ? 
With  less  system  and  less  liberality  in  devoting  money  to 
God,  than  characterized  the  latter  period  even  of  the  pa- 
triarchal dispensation — that  starlight  era  of  the  world — 
how  can  she  expect  the  approbation  of  her  Lord  ? 
If  we  might  judge  from  the  practice  of  many,  and  the 
reasonings  of  some,  who  tell  us  that  the  gospel  imposes 
no  obligation  of  acting  on  system  in  this  matter,  but  leaves 
each  to  act  as  he  pleases  about  giving  any,  or  none  at  all ; 
we  might  be  inclined  to  believe  that  the  object  of  our  Sa- 
viour's mission  and  death,  was  to  procure  from  heaven  a 
dispensation  of  worldliness  and  carnality  to  pious  men. 
The  claims  of  God  are  neither  to  be  felt  nor  acted  upon  by 
them,  because,  forsooth,  they  can  find  no  law  in  the  New 
Testament  requiring  a  certain  proportion  ! 

Reform,  under  such  circumstances,  may  be  difficult, 
but  must  be  attempted  without  delay.  It  matters  not  that 
the  malignant  passions  of  those  who  never  had  a  mind  to 
give,  are  stirred  up.  It  is  better  that  they  should  break 
out  into  a  nauseous  abscess,  than  that  they  should  turn  in- 
ward,  and  become  a  consumption  on  the  vitals  of  the  body. 
May  heaven  forbid,  that  we  should  be  terrified  from  enfor- 
cing wholesome  discipline,  against  those  who  will  not  sub- 
mit to  the  spirit  of  our  Saviour's  precepts,  in  proportion- 
ing their  gratuities  to  the  extent  of  their  means  !     With- 


188  SIN  OF  INEQUALITY— MUST  BE  CORRECTED. 

out  such  discipline,  our  prayers  and  alms  will  be  ineffec- 
tual ;  and  the  arm  of  our  power  will  fall  enervated  and 
flaccid  at  our  side. 


CHAPTER  XII 


Doctrine  of  entire  consecration. 


There  are  collateral  topics  which  add  still  further 
confirmation  to  the  view,  that  we  have  given  in  the  fore- 
going chapter.  In  advancing  to  the  consideration  of  them, 
how  necessary  is  it  to  have  our  minds  divested  of  the 
prejudice  which  may  arise  from  our  selfish  passions  !  The 
influence  of  these  passions  in  closing  the  mind  against  the 
convictions  of  truth  is  by  no  means  confined  to  the  uncon- 
verted. It  exists,  to  an  alarming  extent,  in  the  church. 
Owing  to  this  influence,  some  may  be  inclined  to  say, 
*  Well,  this  is  enough  for  me.  I  want  no  more  of  a  book 
that  undertakes  to  say  that  I  ought  to  give  more  than  a 
tenth  of  my  income.  I  am  a  better  judge  on  this  point 
than  any  one  else ;  I  ask  no  advice.'  But,  are  you  a 
Christian,  and  can  you  not  listen  to  the  Founder  of  your 
faith  ?  Have  you  not  sufficient  confidence  in  Him  to  be- 
lieve that  His  laws  are  our  safest  guides,  even  in  regard 
to  property  and  the  affairs  of  this  world  ?  Look,  there- 
fore, to  the  tendency  on  this  point  of  those  instructions 
which  His  word  contains. 

The  doctrine  of  entire  consecration,  upon  which  the 
Scriptures  so  largely  insist,  must  have  failed  of  its  legiti- 


190  DOCTRINE  OF  ENTIRE  CONSECRATION. 

mate  influence  over  us,  if  it  has  yet  produced  no  such  sys- 
tem of  gratuitous  expenditure  upon  the  cause  of  God,  and 
the  interests  of  mankind.  Let  any  one  take  the  passages 
and  facts  that  bear  upon  this  point,  give  them  a  right  in- 
terpretation, and  compare  them  with  each  other,  and  with 
other  features  of  the  revealed  economy,  and  he  could  no 
more  fail  of  discovering  in  them  the  duty  in  question,  than 
he  could  of  finding  murder  prohibited  by  the  civil  code  of 
this  nation.  Yea,  he  would  find,  that,  to  devote  to  God 
no  more  than  we  could  spare  as  well  as  not,  or  the  refuse 
of  our  wealth,  would  come  as  far  short  of  the  Scripture 
idea  of  consecration,  as  to  offer  the  lame,  the  halt,  and  the 
blind  would,  of  answering  the  design  of  the  law  regarding 
sacrifice,  under  a  former  dispensation.  And  though  he 
might  not  find  the  specification  of  a  particular  amount,  in 
the  constitution  of  the  Christian  church,  he  must  see,  if  he 
is  impartial,  that  the  portion  to  be  thus  consecrated,  should 
be  the  first  fruits  of  his  income  ;  should  be  kept  in  view 
as  a  primary  object  in  the  pursuit  of  wealth  ;  and  that,  so 
far  from  coming  short  of  the  tithe  required  of  the  Israel- 
ites, it  is  the  obvious  design  of  revelation  as  a  whole,  that 
it  should  exceed  this  amount.  Every  honest  inquirer 
after  the  truth  on  this  subject,  must  rise  from  his  investi- 
gations with  the  conviction,  as  we  have  shown,  that  the 
Founder  of  the  gospel  church  omitted  to  transfer  the  law 
of  tithes  into  the  rules  which  he  has  given  that  body,  not 
because  the  proportion  should  be  less,  but  because  the 
superior  efficacy  of  his  religion,  and  the  doctrine  of 
supreme  consecration  to  God  in  body,  soul  and  spirit^ 
which  he  inculcated  both  by  precept  and  his  own  aflfect- 


FOUND  IN  THE  FIRST  PRECEPT  OF  THE  LAW.         191 

ing  example,  might  be  expected  to  produce  still  more.  He 
demands  all — that  we  should  live  wholly  unto  Him  who 
died  for  us  and  rose  again ;  and  that  the  entire  energies 
of  our  being,  physical,  intellectual,  and  moral,  should  be 
thrown  upon  the  altar  of  the  Christian  sanctuary.  If  the 
example  of  the  primitive  church  contains  in  it  the  force 
of  law,  as  we  all  agree  in  believing,  what  man  can  read  the 
New  Testament — can  trace  through  the  Acts  of  the  Apos- 
tles, and  the  succeeding  epistles — can  view  the  faithful  lov- 
ing not  their  lives  even  unto  the  death,  and  esteeming  it  a  light 
thing  to  be  required  to  give  up  for  Christ  no  more  than  all 
their  worldly  estates,  without  being  convinced  that  we  can- 
not act  up  to  the  spirit  of  the  Christian  institution,  unless  we 
adopt  the  principle  of  giving  up  much  more  than  a  tenth 
of  our  income  to  advance  the  interests  of  piety,  and  the 
salvation  of  souls?  The  inquiry  of  one,  upon  whom  the 
doctrine  of  consecration  produces  its  legitimate  fruits,  will 
not  be,  '  How  much  can  I  spare  for  God  V  but,  '  How 
little  can  I  make  answer  for  myself?'  and  '  How  much  can 
I  contrive  to  make  tell  upon  the  honor  of  my  Redeem- 
er, and  the  salvation  of  a  world  lying  in  wickedness  ?' 

To  exhibit  all  the  points  of  view  in  which  the  doctrine 
of  consecration  is  presented  in  the  scriptures,  would  be 
impossible.  After  noticing  a  ^qw  detached  considerations 
on  the  subject,  we  must  leave  it  for  those  who  are  inter- 
ested, to  prosecute  the  inquiry.  This  doctrine  finds  an 
immutable  basis  in  the  first  article  of  the  divine  law,  that 
key-stone  in  the  arch  of  moral  empire — Thou  shalt  love 
the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy  heart,  and  with  all  thy 


192      CLAIM  OF  THE  LAW  ORIGINAL  AND  UNIVERSAL. 

soul,  and  with  all  thy  might.*  Can  God  be  loved  in  a 
manner  answerable  to  this  requirement,  by  one  who  with- 
holds from  him  so  material  an  appendage  of  his  earthly 
existence  as  money  ?  We  might  as  well  ascribe  bene- 
ficence to  one  who  leaves  his  neighbor  to  perish  with 
hunger,  rather  than  expend  any  thing  for  his  relief.  No, 
God  cannot  be  loved  supremely  by  one  who  refuses  to 
adopt  a  plan  of  serving  him  in  the  use  of  his  money.  All 
the  heart,  soul,  might,  includes  the  physical,  not  less  than 
the  moral  energies.  Our  love  must  be  in  deed  and  in 
truth,  as  well  as  in  word  and  in  tongue.  He  who  with- 
holds the  earthly  fruits  of  his  enterprise,  whatever  may 
be  his  profession  of  having  fulfilled  the  law,  could  not  en- 
dure the  test  of  being  required  to  sell  all  that  he  has,  and 
giving  to  the  poor,  as  a  condition  of  entering  into  life. 
Such  a  test  would  show  that  his  heart  is  in  a  state  of  total 
hostility  to  the  divine  law. 

The  claim  of  supreme  consecration,  which  the  law 
urges  is  original,  arising  from  the  immutable  relations 
subsisting  between  God  and  his  creatures,  and  covers  the 
whole  extent  of  the  moral  government.  It  is  coeval  and 
coextensive  with  the  existence  of  accountable  agents. 
Having  received  from  God  being  and  its  blessings,  what 
is  more  reasonable  than  that  all  should  be  returned  to 
him, 

"  Author  of  this  uni-verse 

And  all  this  good  to  man" 


in  due  and  appropriate  acknowledgments,  as  rivers  return 
♦  Deut.  vi.  5. 


god's  right  covers  all  the  phases  of  our  being.  193 

to  the  ocean,  the  waters  which  its  own  abundance  sup- 
plies ? 

But  in  relation  to  us  as  creatures  fallen,  yet  redeemed 
through  the  interposition  of  mercy,  there  exist  peculiar 
and  unparalleled  claims  of  consecration  to  God.  To  ex- 
hibit all  the  points  of  view  in  which  these  claims  are  urged 
in  the  scriptures  would  be  impossible  ;  since  they  find 
place  in  one  form  or  another  in  every  book,  and  almost 
in  every  page.  They  are  wrought  into  the  texture  of 
revelation  itself.  God  sets  forth  a  right  to  his  people  that 
covers  the  whole  extent  of  their  faculties  and  possessions, 
and  that  runs  throughout  all  the  phases  of  their  being, 
from  its  commencement  onward  in  the  track  of  eternal 
ages.  It  was  typically  set  forth  in  the  claim  which  he 
made  upon  his  ancient  people,  the  descendants  of  Abra- 
ham. Israel  was  said  to  be  holiness  unto  the  Lord,  and 
the  first  fruits  of  all  his  increase.*  And  they  were  re- 
quired to  acknowledge  the  justice  of  it  in  the  annual 
presentation  of  their  offerings,  by  using  a  prescribed  form 
of  speech,  in  which  the  circumstances  that  gave  rise  to 
God's  peculiar  right  in  them,  were  minutely  detailed.  A 
Syrian  ready  to  perish  was  my  father,  and  he  went  down 
into  Egypt,  and  sojourned  there  with  a  few,  and  became 
there  a  nation,  great,  mighty,  and  populous ;  and  the 
Egyptians  evil-entreated  us,  and  afflicted  us,  and  laid 
upon  us  hard  bondage — and  when  we  cried  unto  the  Lord 
God  of  our  fathers,  the  Lord  heard  our  voice,  and  looked 
on  our  affliction,  and  our  labor,  and  our  oppression — and 

♦  Jer.  ii.  3. 
17 


194      GOD,  THE  SAME  IN  THE  BIBLE  AS  IN  rBOVIUENCE, 

the  Lord  brought  us  forth  out  of  Egypt  with  a  mighty 
hand,  and  with  an  outstretched  arm,  and  with  terribleness, 
and  with  signs,  and  with  wonders ;  and  he  hath  brought 
us  into  this  place,  and  hath  given  us  this  land,  even  a  land 
that  floweth  with  milk  and  honey.  And  now,  iehold,  I 
have  brought  the  Jirst  fruits  of  the  land,  which  thou,  Lord, 
hast  given  me.*  With  this  acknowledgment  of  the  entire 
right  which  God  had  in  him  and  all  he  possessed,  the  pious 
Israelite  brought  his  yearly  offerings,  and  placed  them 
before  the  Lord.  When  also  he  had  made  an  end  of 
tithing  the  increase  of  the  third  year,  giving  it  to  the 
Levite,  the  stranger,  and  the  fatherless,  he  was  required 
to  say  before  the  Lord  his  God,  I  have  brought  away  the 
hallowed  things  out  of  my  house,  and  have  given  them  to 
the  Levite,  the  stranger,  the  fatherless,  and  the  widow, 
according  to  all  thy  commandments,  neither  have  I  for- 
gotten them.f  God  was  accustomed  to  remind  them  of 
what  he  had  done  for  them,  how  he  bare  them  on  eagles' 
wings,  and  brought  them  unto  himself  Now,  therefore, 
he  adds,  if  ye  will  obey  my  voice  ye  shall  be  a  peculiar 
treasure  unto  me  above  all  people,  and  shall  be  unto  me  a 
kingdom  of  priests,  and  a  holy  nation.:]: 

Two  things  are  remarkable  in  these  passages  ;  the 
first  is  the  peculiar  property  which  God  had  acquired  in 
them  by  his  extraordinary  favors  to  their  nation  ;  and 
the  second  is,  his  often  repeated  demand  upon  them  to  ac- 
knowledge His  right  in  them,  by  devoting  a  portion  of 
their    substance  to  the  support  of  the  Levite,  stranger, 

♦Deut.  xxvi.  5—10.   tDeut.  xxvi— 13.    tEx.  xix.  5—6.    Pr.  cxxxv.4. 


TIES  BY  WHICH  THE  CHURCH  IS  BOUND  TO  GOD.       195 

fatherless,  and  widow.  Thus,  God,  with  characteristic 
benevolence,  turns  his  right  over  into  the  hands  of  his 
chosen  ministers,  and  of  the  needy  ;  and  employs  it  in  fill- 
ing  the  world  with  deeds  of  mercy  and  beneficence.  How 
like  the  God  of  whose  munificence  we  are  all  the  daily 
partakers,  does  He  appear,  who  framed  the  civil  consti- 
tution  of  the  Hebrew  nation  ! 

The  Christian  church  is  bound  to  God  by  ties  still 
more  strong  and  endearing.  Redeemed,  not  from  Egypt, 
but  from  the  worse  bondage  of  sin  and  death,  not  with 
corruptible  things  as  silver  and  gold,  but  with  the  pre- 
cious blood  of  Christ — carried  in  the  arms  of  everlasting 
love — taken  from  a  prison  to  a  throne,  from  hell  to  hea- 
ven, by  a  special  act  of  divine  power  and  condescension — 
what  have  they  on  which  they  ought  not  to  write,  holi- 
ness  unto  the  Lord  ?  Is  it  life  ?  health  ?  muscular  vigor  ? 
influence  ?  time  ?  talents  ?  money  ?  nay  ;  all  these  are 
secured  to  them  as  the  result  of  those  groans  by  which 
the  rocks  were  broken  and  day  veiled  in  curtains  of 
night ;  of  that  blood  which  cleanseth  from  all  sin.  Look, 
ye  redeemed  of  the  Lord,  at  what  you  were,  at  what  you 
are,  at  what  you  hope  to  be  ;  then  see  the  hand  that  hath 
wrought  the  change,  and  the  agonizing  means  of  its  ac- 
complishment, and  tell  me  whether  you  can  live  another 
day  withou^t  a  liberal  system  of  pecuniary  beneficence, 
that  thus  in  showing  mercy  to  others,  you  may  imitate 
the  mercy  which  has  been  shown  to  you? 

Ye  are  a  chosen  generation,  a  royal  priesthood,  a  holy 
nation,  a  peculiar  people  ;  that  ye  should  show  forth  the 
praises  of  Him  who  hath  called  you  out  of  darkness  into 


196        ANOMALY  FILLING  ANGELS  WITH  AMAZEMENT. 

his  marvellous  light.*  Let  every  member  of  Christ's 
body,  therefore,  reflect,  '  I  am  of  a  geHeration  chosen  and 
select,  a  consecrated  Priest  of  the  Most  High,  belong  to 
a  holy  nation  and  a  peculiar  people  ;  and  the  object  of  my 
being  made  such,  is  to  show  forth  the  praise  of  Him  who 
hath  called  me  to  these  exalted  privileges.  How  would 
it  appear  in  me  to  live  for  the  purpose  of  amassing  wealth 
to  lavish  upon  myself  and  descendants?  What  a  spec, 
tacle  of  incongruity  should  I  exhibit,  by  employing  such 
gifts  when  bestowed,  in  sacrificing  to  my  own  net,  and  burn- 
ing  incense  to  my  own  drag,  as  if  by  these  my  portion 
were  made  fat,  and  my  meat  plenteous ;  when  I  might,  if 
I  chose,  render  them  subservient  to  the  honor  of  the  Su- 
preme Giver,  and  the  highest  interests  of  the  world !' 
If  there  is  an  anomaly  in  the  universe  on  which  angels 
look  with  amazement,  it  is  a  Christian  having  the  oppor- 
tunity of  doing  good  with  his  money,  and  yet  having  no 
heart  to  it !  Those  who  profess  to  be  the  peculiar  pro- 
perty of  God,  unwilling  to  give  him  any  right  in  an  object 
on  which  they  have  expended  the  chief  labor  of  life,  ex- 
cept only  when  the  circumstances  are  so  exciting  as  to 
render  it  quite  impossible  for  them  to  withhold !  Offerings 
thus  extorted,  are  of  a  hot-bed  growth,  and  are  little  bet- 
ter than  none,  because  they  do  not  flow  from  the  settled 
principle  of  consecration  to  God. 

Such  was  not  the  course  of  the  Macedonian  converts, 
as  we  learn  from  the  following  commendation  of  their 
practice.  Moreover,  brethren,  we  make  known  to  you  the 

*  1  Peter,  ii.  9. 


EXAMPLE  OF  MACEDONIAN  CONVERTS.       197 

grace  of  God  bestowed  on  the  churches  of  Macedonia ; 
fmeaninj?,  doubtless,  the  charitable  contributions  to  which 
they  were  excited  by  the  grace  of  God  in  their  hearts,] 
how  that  in  a  great  trial  of  affliction,  the  abundance  of 
their  joy  and  their  deep  poverty  abounded  unto  the  riches 
of  their  liberality.  For  to  their  power,  (I  bear  record,) 
yea,  and  boyond  their  power,  they  were  willing  of  them- 
selves ;  [did  not  wait  to  be  excited  to  liberality  by  stirring 
appeals,]  praying  us  with  much  entreaty  that  we  would 
receive  the  gift,  and  take  upon  us  the  fellowship  of  the 
ministering  to  the  saints.  Yea,  beyond  our  expectations, 
they  first  gave  themselves  to  the  Lord,  and  unto  us  by  the 
will  of  God.*  Thus,  unmoved  by  eloquent  and  high- 
wrought  appeals,  and  even  unsolicited,  they  stepped  for- 
ward, impelled  by  the  ordinary  operation  of  their  faith,  to 
sacrifice  liberally  from  their  scanty  means,  upon  the  relief 
of  the  poor  at  Jerusalem.  They  interpreted  their  Chris- 
tian vows  into  an  obligation  to  this  course  ;  and  having 
first  given  themselves  to  God,  in  an  everlasting  covenant, 
they  had  no  difficulty  in  deducing  thence  the  obligation, 
of  giving  themselves  up  to  the  service  of  those  who  were 
making  collections  for  the  poor  saints.  The  latter  they 
doubtless  esteemed  the  result  of  the  principles  of  their 
consecration,  as  necessary  as  any  service  which  they 
could  perform  directly  to  Christ. 

The  apostle  improves  upon  the  idea  of  making  works 
of  beneficence  a  consequence  of  being  devoted  to  God, 
which  the  example  of  the  Macedonian  converts  suggested, 
by  holding  it  up  to  tlie  Corinthian  church.     Therefore, 

*2Cor.  8. 
17* 


198  CLIMAX   OF    THE    ARGUMENT    FOR    CHARITY 

he  adds,  as  ye  abound  in  every  thing,  in  faith,  and  utter- 
ance, and  knowledge,  in  all  diligence,  and  in  your  love  to 
us,  see  that  ye  abound  in  this  grace  also.  Let  your  con- 
secration to  God  in  the  exercise  of  all  the  Christian  affec- 
tions, with  which  you  have  already  conjoined  love  to  your 
brethren,  have  full  scope  in  controlling  your  pecuniary 
expenditures.  Be  as  conspicuous  in  the  substantial  acts 
of  mercy  to  the  suffering,  as  you  are  in  the  internal  gra- 
ces of  the  Christian  character.  For  you  know  the  grace 
or  charity  of  your  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  that  though  he  was 
rich,  for  your  sakes  he  became  poor,  that  ye  through  his 
poverty  might  be  rich.  Thus,  the  apostle  finds  the  cli- 
max of  his  argument  for  charity,  in  the  example  of  Him 
whose  devotion  to  our  good  led  him  to  sacrifice  ease, 
honor,  and  abundance  in  heaven,  to  become  a  tenant  of 
this  sin-disordered  world,  that  he  might  lay  the  foundation 
of  our  hope,  and  raise  us  to  riches,  honor,  and  eternal  life 
in  his  kingdom. 

'Pardon  for  infinite  offence  !  and  pardon 
Through  means  that  speaks  its  value  infinite  ! 
A  pardon  bought  with  blood  !  with  blood  divine ! 
With  blood  divine  of  Him  I  made  my  foe  ! 

my  praise!  forever  flow  ;^ 

Praise  ardent,  cordial,  constant;  to  high  Heaven 
More  fragrant,  than  Arabia  sacrificed. 
And  all  her  spicy  mountains  in  a  flame.'* 

How  can  such  an  example  of  beneficence  fail  of  its 
effect  upon  those  to  whom  Christ  is  the  chief  among  ten 
thousand,  and  altogether  lovely?  Can  we  breathe  the 
same  moral  atmosphere  that  our  Saviour  did — drink  into 

♦  Young. 


FOUND    IN   THE    SACRIFICE    OF    CHRIST.  199 

the  fountain  of  his  love — feel  the  gracious  gales  of  heaven 
wafting  us  from  earth — and  make  Him  who  died  for  us  and 
rose  again,  the  model  of  our  devotion — while  at  the  sanne 
time  we  are  scraping  up  money  with  both  hands,  and 
holding  to  it  with  a  death-hke  grasp,  in  defiance  of  those 
miseries  which  it  might  help  us  to  relieve  ?  Alas, 
what  can  be  more  unlike  than  such  a  Christian  to  such  a 
Saviour  1 

When  we  turn  to  the  cross,  we  find  it  written  in 
burnished  gold  before  our  eyes,  ye  are  not  your  own  ;  for 
ye  are  bought  with  a  price  ;  therefore  glorify  God  in 
your  body,  and  in  your  spirit,  which  are  God's*.  Bought 
from  retributive  justice,  from  the  violated  law,  and  the 
pains  of  the  second  death,  by  an  offering  great  as  heaven 
could  bestow,  what  deduction  could  be  more  reasonable, 
than  that  with  our  bodies,  their  health,  vigor,  means  of 
sustenance,  and  all  that  pertains  to  them,  as  well  as  with 
our  intellectual  and  moral  faculties,  we  ought  to  glorify 
Him  by  whom  the  purchase  was  made  1  And  indeed,  the 
scriptures  speak  of  the  Christian  profession  as  virtually 
containing  a  vow  of  supreme  consecration  to  God.  For 
none  of  us  liveth  unto  himself,  and  no  man  dieth  unto 
himself.  For  whether  we  live,  we  live  unto  the  Lord  ; 
and  whether  we  die  we  die  unto  the  Lord — whether  we 
live  therefore  or  die  we  are  the  Lord's.f  "That  is,  none 
of  us  who  behaves  as  a  Christian,"  or  who  acts  upon  the 
vows  of  his  profession,  "  can  live  only  for  his  own  pleasure, 
or  to  obey  his  own  inclinations.     Hence,  the  aposLle  con- 

*  1  Cor.  xix.  20.    Rom.  xiv.  7—8. 


200  CHARITY  ARISING  FROM  THE  FIRST  IMPULSES  OF  FAITH» 

eludes,  that  those  who  made  distinctions  between  food, 
and  those  who  did  not,  aimed  to  honor  God,  from  this, 
that  they  both  ahke  stood  pledged  to  be  entirely  devoted 
to  his  service  and  glory.  Whether  in  a  state  of  life  or 
death,  we  belong  to  the  Lord,  and  are  bound  to  glorify 
him.  The  supremacy  of  Christ,  and  his  absolute  proper- 
ty in  all  Christians,  is  fully  asserted  in  this  passage."* 
But  can  these  professions  of  supreme  consecration  avail 
any  thing  to  one  who  keeps  back  a  part  of  the  price? 
What  is  the  chaff  to  the  wheat  saith  the  Lord  ? 

The  force  of  this  obligation  to  be  wholly  devoted  to 
God,  in  body,  soul,  and  spirit,  is  among  the  first  that  is 
felt  by  one  who  is  renewed  by  divine  grace.  He  takes 
pleasure  in  esteeming  himself  and  all  he  has  as  belonging 
to  God.  What  shall  1  render  unto  the  Lord,  for  all  his 
benefits?  is  the  first  effusion  of  his  heart,  and  his  sponta- 
neous feelings  duly  followed  up  could  not  fail  of  impelling 
him  to  a  liberal  and  systematic  sacrifice  of  property  for 
the  good  of  mankind.  Nothing,  therefore,  but  influences 
unfriendly  to  the  Christian  character  could  turn  such 
multitudes  aside  from  the  first  impulses  of  their  faith. 
Consecration  such  as  the  Bible  teaches,  such  as  the  first 
Christians  displayed,  legitimately  followed  up,  would  place 
in  the  hands  of  the  Church  all  the  physical  means  of  re- 
generation to  this  world.  Let  the  course  which  the  first 
Christians  pursued  in  giving  up  all,  so  that  none  of  them 
said  that  aught  of  the  things  which  he  possessed  were  his 
own,  become  general,  and  what  might  not  be  done  ?     The 

*  Stuart  on  this  passage. 


EFFECTS  OF  CONSECRATION  IN  THE  FIRST  CHURCH.  201 

amount  of  missionary  labor  in  the  first  age  of  Christianity, 
Iq  comparison  with  the  physical  means  of  sustaining  it, 
was  great  beyond  all  parallel.  And  it  was  owing  to  the 
hold  which  the  doctrine  of  consecration  had  taken  upon 
the  spirit  and  conduct  of  the  Church  in  that  age.  It 
burned  in  their  bosoms,  it  animated  their  toils,  it  prompted 
their  sacrifices,  and  called  into  the  service  of  Him  from 
whose  example  they  learned  the  doctrine,  all  their  corpo- 
real and  moral  energies.  Under  the  same  calculating 
penurious  policy  which  now  freezes  tlie  vitals  of  the 
Church,  imperial  Rome  might  have  remained  for  ages 
unblessed  with  religious  light,  and  Europe,  up  to  this  day, 
might  have  been  overrun  with  barbarism.  The  spirit  of 
consecration  which  animated  the  foun  ders  of  Christianity, 
now  extant  in  the  Church,  with  all  her  wealth,  talents, 
and  influence;  and  with  the  facilities  for  doing  good 
which  the  progress  in  art  and  science  has  thrown  in  her 
way,  could  not  fail  to  achieve  rapid  and  brilliant  victories 
for  the  truth  in  the  earth.  Did  every  professor  of  re- 
ligion labor  for  money,  cultivate  his  mind,  form  his  plans 
of  life,  select  his  associates,  prosecute  his  business,  and 
direct  all  his  energies  on  the  principles  of  his  avowed 
consecration  to  God,  who  can  calculate  the  extent  of  good 
that  would  immediately  follow  ?  Millions  of  property  now 
wasted  upon  dissipation  and  folly,  or  hoarded  up  to  the 
injury  of  its  owners,  would  be  diffused  like  gentle  rain,  in 
works  of  beneficence,  to  beautify  and  bless  the  family  of 
man.  Not  only  so,  it  would  bring  a  harvest  of  the  most 
refined  and  exalted  enjoyments  to  the  donors,  and  thus,  by 
watering  others  they  would  be  themselves  watered  in 
their  turn. 


CHAPTER  Xlir 


Vanity  and  danger  of  a  passion  for  wealth. 

The  tendency  of  the  doctrine  of  entire  consecration 
to  produce  liberality,  acquires  additional  strength  fronfi  the 
view  which  the  Scriptures  give  of  its  opposite — an  undue 
passion  for  wealth.  They  teach  us  to  regard  this  passion 
as  a  fruitful  source  of  disappointment,  vexation,  and 
crime.  Thus,  while  on  the  one  hand,  they  require  us  to 
write  holiness  unto  the  Lord  upon  our  possessions  ;  they 
show  us  on  the  other,  that  by  neglecting  to  do  so,  in  order 
to  write  upon  them  consecration  to  ourselves  and  our 
children,  we  shall  convert  them  into  the  means  of  our 
own  destruction.  A  waterfall  confined  within  proper 
limits  may  be  made  to  subserve  the  most  beneficial  pur- 
poses ;  but  if  allowed  to  overleap  its  boundaries,  it  will 
carry  wasting  and  destruction  before  it.  Thus,  a  talent 
to  acquire  wealth,  rightly  directed  and  duly  controlled  by 
the  higher  considerations  of  duty  to  God  and  beneficence 
to  man,  may  be  ranked  among  the  gracious  gifts  of  Hea- 
ven ;  but  when  it  has  once  demolished  its  appropriate  re- 
straints, and  careers  onward  under  the  lawless  impulses 


204  PASSION  FOR  WEALTH  DENOUNCED. 

of  passion  and  cupidity,  present  ruin  and  future  wo  follow 
in  its  train. 

Such  are  the  views  which  the  scriptures  give  of  this 
subject.  Hence,  those  passages  which  denoulice  the  love 
of  riches,  and  the  abuse  of  a  talent  for  acquiring  them, 
by  employing  it  wholly  upon  selfish  ends,  may  be  ad- 
duced as  a  defence,  indirect  indeed,  but  still  cogent  of  the 
duty  in  question.  It  was  the  lawless  exercise  of  this  ta- 
lent under  the  influence  of  unrestrained  cupidity,  that 
called  forth  the  following  bold  denunciation  from  an  in- 
spired pen.  Go  to  now,  ye  rich  men,  weep  and  howl  for 
your  miseries  that  shall  come  upon  you.  Your  riches  are 
corrupted,  and  your  garments  are  moth-eaten.  Your 
gold  and  silver  is  cankered  ;  and  the  rust  of  them  shall 
be  a  witness  against  you,  and  shall  eat  your  flesh  as  it 
were  fire.  Ye  have  heaped  treasure  together  for  the  last 
day.  Behold,  the  hire  of  the  laborers  who  have  reaped 
down  your  fields  which  is  of  you  kept  back  by  fraud 
crieth  ;  and  the  cries  of  th'^m,  which  have  reaped,  are 
entered  into  the  ears  of  the  Lord  of  Sabaoth.  Ye  have 
lived  in  pleasure  on  the  earth,  and  been  wanton.  Ye 
have  nourished  your  hearts  as  in  a  day  of  slaughter.* 

This  appeal  contains  a  graphic  drawing  of  the  dismal 
channels,  which  a  passion  for  wealth  opens  for  itself,  when 
it  breaks  through  the  salutary  restraints  of  reason,  virtue, 
nnd  religion.  It  begins  by  "  heaping  up  treasure,"  instead 
of  employing  it  in  advancing  commerce,  manufacture,  and 
other  important  interests  of  human  life.     All  that  is  un- 

*  James,  v.  1—6. 


BIREFDL  EFFECTS  OF  HEAPING  UP.         205 

aecessarily  take  out  of  the  market,  to  gratify  a  love  of 
hoarding,  or  the  pride  of  possessing,  is  for  the  tinie  being 
as  effuctually  lost  to  the  world,  as  if  it  were  consumed 
by  fire,  or  sunk  in  the  ocean. 

And  '  to  be  just  to  these  poor  men  of  pelf, 
Each  does  but  hate  his  neighbor  as  himself ; 
Damn'd  to  the  mines,  an  equal  late  betides 
The  slave  that  digs  it,  and  the  slave  that  hides.'* 

But  the  passion,  when  it  becomes  thus  lawless,  does 
oot  content  itself  with  the  passive  offence  of  "  heaping  up,'* 
but  rushes  upon  fraudulent  measures  of  acquiring.  The 
fruit  of  others'  toils  are  seized  without  compensation, 
either  by  "keeping  back  the  wages  of  workmen,"  or  by  still 
more  adroit  means  of  amassing  to  oneself  what  rightfully 
belongs  to  another.  They  that  will  be  rich  fall  into 
temptation,  and  a  snare,  and  into  many  foolish,  and  hurt- 
ful lusts,  which  drown  men  in  destruction  and  perdition. 
For  the  love  of  money  is  the  root  of  all  evil  ;  which, 
while  some  coveted  after,  they  have  erred  from  the  faith, 
and  pierced  themselves  through  with  many  sorrows. f  A 
large  portion  of  the  crimes  which  disgrace  human  nature, 
destroy  the  security  of  person,  property  and  character, 
and  fill  the  world  with  mourning  and  wo,  may  be  traced 
to  an  overgrown  and  exorbitant  passion  for  the  goods  of 
this  world.  Like  the  ship  which  is  allowed  to  drive  be- 
fore the  storm,  those  who  yield  themselves  the  willing 
victims  of  this  passion  are  sure  to  break  upon  the  rocks 
of  infamy  and  ruin. 

Another  channel  through  which  the  love  of  money  is 

*  Pope.  t  1  Tim.  vi.  9,  10. 

18 


206  LAST  SCENE  OF  THE  DISMAL  DRAMA. 

represented  in  the  passage  quoted,  as  creating  vent  for  it* 
self,  is  that  of  "  wantonness  and  pleasure."  Even  the  goods 
which  it  does  not  pervert  and  neutralize  by  heaping  them 
up,  where  they  can  be  of  no  use  to  any  one,  it  often  more 
than  wastes,  by  laying  them  out  upon  forbidden  gratifica- 
tions. They  go  to  feed  the  fires  of  lust,  to  purchase  the 
trappings  of  pride,  to  gratify  a  licentious  intellectual  appe- 
tite, or  to  give  impetus  to  a  career  of  reckless  ambition. 
Rolling  in  pleasure,  and  faring  sumptuously  every  day, 
the  victims  of  gold  and  its  snares,  become  a  grovelling 
swinish  brood,  wallowing  in  the  filthiness  of  vice,  and 
steeled   against  the  ordinary  sympathies   of  our  nature^ 

In  place  of  the  refined  enjoyments  which  result  from 
our  social  sympathies,  from  intellectual  exercise,  from 
moral  excellence,  and  from  walking  with  God,  all  of 
which  we  corrupt  or  destroy  by  yielding  ourselves  to  a 
passion  for  wealth,  how  poor  and  despicable  are  the  re- 
turns which  we  meet  ?  The  glitter  of  equipage,  the  fe- 
verish pleasures  of  voluptuousness,  or  the  ennui  of  lux- 
urious ease,  is  all  that  we  have  to  show  for  our  loss 
of  peace  with  ourselves,  dignity  with  man,  and  higher 
hopes  of  a  future  life  ! 

But  worldlings  do  not  stop  here — they  rush  upon  the 
last  scene  of  this  dismal  drama,  that  of  living  exclusively 
for  their  own  gratification.  "  They  nourish  their  hearts 
as  in  a  day  of  slaughter.'*  They  feed  and  fatten  them- 
selves as  a  butcher  the  beast  which  he  is  preparing  for  a 
rare  occasion,  till  they  are  fully  prepared  for  the  slaugh- 
fer.  All  their  wealth  goes  to  themselves,  as  much  as  if 
there  were  no  others  in  the  universe  to  share  in  its  bene. 


WEALTH  NEUTRALIZED.  207 

^ts.     Indeed,  it  is  often  expended  upon  what  they  are 
incapable  of  enjoying  ;  and  thus,  if 

*"Tis  strange,  (he  miser  should  his  cares  employ 
To  gain  those  riches  he  can  ne'er  enjoy; 
'Tis  stranger  still  the  prodigal  should  waste 
His  wealth,  to  purchase  what  he  ne'er  can  taste."* 

Having  thus  noticed  the  various  methods  by  which  an 
anordinate  love  of  wealth  vents  itself,  as  described  in  the 
passage  quoted  from  James,  it  may  be  well  to  look  at  the 
desolating  consequences  which  are  thrown  together  in  the 
same  passage. 

The  first  is,  the  loss  of  power  in  wealth  itself  to  confer 
any  good  upon  those  by  whom  it  is  thus  abused.  "  Your 
riches  are  corrupted,  and  your  garments  are  moth-eaten," 
alluding  to  the  tendency  of  grain  and  fruit  when  piled 
together  to  heat  and  spoil,  and  of  garments  packed  in 
wardrobes  to  be  destroyed  by  moths.  Vegetable  produce 
and  garments  thus  injured,  could  of  course  possess  no 
value  to  any  one.  In  like  manner,  the  effect  of  a  miserly 
disposition,  by  leading  us  to  place  our  riches  where  they 
can  be  of  no  use  to  any  one,  is  to  annihilate  their  value  to 
ourselves.     Like  the  simoon,  it  blights  what  it  touches. 

But  wealth,  under  such  treatment,  not  only  loses  its 
value,  but  is  converted  into  an  instrument  of  the  keenest 
torture.  It  cankers,  and  "  the  rust  of  it  shall  be  a  witness 
against  us,  eating  our  flesh  as  it  were  fire."  The  diminished 
lustre  of  our  coin  is  evidence  that  we  have  not  had  it  in 
use ;  and  thus,  it  betrays  our  hoarding  propensity.     And 

*  Pope. 


208    Solomon's  experience  of  the  vanity  of  riches^ 

the  means  which  have  tarnished  its  lustre,  will,  in  the  end, 
eat  our  flesh  as  a  gangrene,  and  be  a  burning  plague  in 
our  blood,  awakening  in  us  the  anguish  of  undying  re- 
morse. The  extremes  of  luxury,  consequent  upon  wealth, 
not  unfrequently  breed  the  most  loathsome  diseases,  inso- 
much that  the  flesh  is  literally  consumed  as  with  fire. 

And  finally,  all  these  "  shall  be  a  witness  against  you," 
in  your  final  process  of  trial.  You  will  be  like  a  pam- 
pered beast  on  the  day  of  slaughter,  the  very  means  by 
which  you  had  fattened,  rendering  you  meet  to  be  taken 
and  destroyed.  Your  rapine  and  injustice,  yea,  even  your 
indifference  to  the  woes  of  the  unfortunate  will  raise 
agairst  you,  in  the  final  judgment,  the  cry  of  the  poor 
and  oppressed,  a  cry  which  is  alway  eloquent  in  the  cars 
of  the  Judge.  Thus,  while  you  might  have  secured  a 
treasure  in  heaven,  and  purchased  the  privilege  of  being 
welcomed  by  the  pious  poor  into  everlasting  habitations, 
you  have  so  expended  your  money,  as  to  treasure  up 
wrath  against  the  day  of  wrath,  and  revelation  of  the 
righteous  judgment  of  God. 

Solomon's  experience  of  the  futility  of  wealth,  than 
whom  no  man  ever  had  a  better  opportunity  of  testing  its 
real  value,  stands  as  an  everlasting  admonition  against  set- 
ting our  hearts  upon  it.  I  gathered  me  silver  and  gold, 
and  the  peculiar  treasure  of  kings  and  of  the  provinces. 
And  whatsoever  mine  eyes  desired,  I  kept  not  from  them. 
I  withheld  not  my  heart  from  any  joy — for  my  heart 
rejoiced  in  all  my  labor.  Then  I  looked  on  all  the  works 
that  my  hands  had  wrought,  and  on  the  labor  that  I  had 
labored  to  do — and  behold,  all  was  vanity  and  vexation  of 


HIS  DECLINING  YEARS  BETRAYED  INTO  SIN.  209 

spirit,  and  there  was  no  profit  under  the  sun.  Yea,  I 
haled  all  my  labor  which  I  had  taken  under  the  sun,  be- 
cause I  should  leave  it  unto  the  man  that  shall  be  after 
me.  And  who  knoweth  whether  he  shall  be  a  wise  man 
or  a  fool ;  yet  shall  he  have  rule  over  all  my  labor' 
wherein  I  have  labored,  and  wherein  I  have  shown  myself 
wise  under  the  sun.*  But  the  unhappy  result  of  thus 
giving  himself  to  every  joy  that  riches  could  purchase, 
was  not  confined  to  the  bosom  of  this  sapient  monarch ; 
for  his  declining  years  were  betrayed,  by  means  of  it,  into 
the  most  disgusting  idolatry.  From  his  unrivalled  emi- 
nence in  wisdom,  he  was  plunged  into  the  degrading  sin 
of  bowing  down  to  Chemosh,  Moloch,  and  the  other  gods 
of  the  wives  whom  he  had  impiously  married.  Not  only 
so  ;  the  enormous  expenses  of  his  harem,  and  other  instru- 
ments  of  pleasure,  were  sustained  by  means  of  exactions 
upon  his  people  so  oppressive  that  they  could  not  bear  the 
burden  ;  and  hence,  because  his  successor  in  the  throne 
would  give  no  pledge  of  lightening  it,  the  fairest  portion 
of  his  kingdom  dissolved  the  tie  that  bound  them  to  David's 
house,  and  established  a  rival  power.  This  dissevering 
of  the  kingdom  was  ordered  of  the  Lord  as  a  punishment 
of  Solomon's  earthliness,  and  the  sins  into  which  it  betray- 
ed him.  Had  he  been  more  moderate  in  his  pleasures, 
he  would  have  had  less  need  of  wealth,  and  so,  would  not 
have  driven  a  frantic  people  into  a  rebellion  from  which 
they  never  recovered,  but  which,  by  separating  them  from 
the  instituted  seat  of  the  true  religion,  betrayed  them  into 

*  Eccl.  2. 

18* 


210  LOVE  OF  RICHES  RENDERS  ALL  A  WRECK. 

sins  that  brought  over  them  the  wave  of  final  extinction. 
What  a  world  of  iniquity  and  wrath  may  follow  in  the 
train  of  one  man's  sin  ! 

Yea,  more  than  this,  had  Solomon  been  rocked  less  m 
the  cradle  of  luxury  and  splendor,  he  would  perhaps  hare 
escaped  the  guilt  of  violating  the  civil  constitution  under 
which  he  was  bound  to  govern  his  kingdom,  by  taking 
strange  wives,  and  thus,  would  have  secured  his  name 
against  the  infamy  with  which  it  has  come  down  to  pos- 
terity. Alas,  no  virtue,  no  wisdom,  no  previous  inter- 
course with  God,  no  pious  ancestry,  nor  consecrated 
hopes  of  future  good,  can  withstand  the  inebriating  influ- 
ence of  ample  treasures  hoarded,  or  expended  upon 
worldly  bliss  and  glory.  The  heart  that  feels  the  suction 
of  this  whirlpool,  is  quite  sure  to  be  drawn  down  and 
wrecked.  How  hardly  shall  they  that  have  riches  enter 
into  the  kingdom  of  heaven  !  The  fate  of  Solomon  speaks 
our  danger,  at  the  same  time  that  his  language  declares 
the  utter  futility  of  wealth  to  those  who  seek  their  happi- 
ness from  it.  Vanity  and  vexation  of  spirit  attend  the 
possession,  and  doubt  lowers  in  the  brow  of  the  future, 
whether  it  fall  to  a  wise  man  or  a  fool.  Surely,  there- 
fore, he  who  lives  to  enjoy  so  gaudy  a  toy,  walketh  in  a 
vain  show  ;  surely  he  is  disquieted  in  vain  ;  he  heapeth 
up  riches,  and  knoweth  not  who  shall  gather  them.*  He 
that,  urged  forward  by  the  impetuosity  of  desire,  hasteth 
to  be  rich,  never  fails,  sooner  or  later,  to  have  an  evil 
eye,  so  corrupting  is  the  effect ;  but  alas,  he  considereth 
not  that  poverty  shall  come  upon  him.f     The  means  of 

♦  Ps.  xxxix.  6.  +  Prov.  xxviii.  22. 


THE    RICH   FOOL.  211 

acquiring  being  wrong,  the  possession,  while  it  lasts,  will 
be  connected  with  remorse,  and  will  terminate  in  a  poverty 
infinitely  more  to  be  dreaded,  than  that  from  which  the 
deluded  pursuer  at  first  emerged. 

Let  the  solemn  admonition  of  our  Saviour,  to  take 
heed  and  beware  of  covetousness,  and  the  still  more 
solemn  parable  by  which  he  enforced  it,  restrain  our  inor- 
dinate love  of  money,  and  lead  us  to  do  what  good  we  can 
with  it  while  it  is  at  our  command.  The  ground  of  a  cer- 
tain rich  man  brought  forth  plentifully  ;  and  he  thought 
within  himself,  saying.  What  shall  I  do,  because  I  have 
no  room  where  to  bestow  my  fruits  ?  You  observe,  he 
thought  only  of  hoarding  them,  and  did  not  allow  himself 
to  reflect,  that  they  were  put  into  his  hands  as  a  steward, 
to  be  disposed  of  according  to  the  bidding  of  the  Supreme 
Lord,  and  for  the  greatest  advantage  of  his  creatures.  His 
only  inquiry  was,  how  he  should  lay  them  out  upon  him- 
self by  making  provision  for  future  use.  His  suspense 
did  not  long  continue  before  his  mind  was  made  up — but 
alas,  made  up  to  his  infinite  cost !  This  will  I  do  ;  I  will 
pull  down  my  barns,  and  build  greater;  and  there  will  I 
bestow  all  my  fruits  and  my  goods.  And  I  will  say  to  my 
soul,  Soul,  thou  hast  goods  laid  up  for  many  years ;  take 
thine  ease,  eat,  drink,  and  be  merry.  Thus,  he  had  not 
a  thought  beyond  making  the  gifts  of  God  minister  to  his 
own  I  usts.  The  suffering  condition  of  millions  never  came 
into  his  mind.  Hence,  he  was  fully  ripe  for  the  awful 
result.  But  God  said  unto  him.  Thou  fool !  this  night 
shall  thy  soul  be  required  of  thee  ;  then  whose  shall  those 
things  be,  which  thou  has  provided.     So  is  he,  that  is, 


212       HIS  MANNER  OF  ACQUIRING  UNEXCEPTIONABLE. 

(awful  truth!)  such  shall  be  the  fate  of  every  one  who 
layeth  up  treasure  for  himself ,  and  is  not  rich  towards 
God*  It  is  remarkable  that  the  case  here  adduced  by 
our  Saviour  is  one,  which  is  free  from  all  imputation  of 
guilt  in  reg  ird  to  the  mode  of  acquiring.  The  supera- 
bundance of  this  man  resulted  from  the  unusual  produc- 
tiveness of  the  soil,  a  thing  which  was  purely  providen- 
tial, and  did  not  imply  even  so  much  as  an  inordinate 
desire  for  wealth  ;  much  less  any  improper  measures  to 
obtain  it.  And  then,  what  source  of  riches  can  be  more 
innocent  than  that  of  cultivating  and  gathering  the  fruits 
of  the  earth.  Hence,  the  whole  weight  of  this  awful 
admonition  falls  upon  the  manner  of  using  what  was  inno- 
cently acquired,  and  has  respect  to  the  guilt  of  hoarding- 
cur  riches  to  gratify  our  earthly  propensities,  when  they 
ought  to  be  scattered  all  abroad  upon  works  of  mercy 
and  good  will.  Hence,  while  the  Scriptures  inculcate,  on 
the  one  hand,  the  doctrine  of  supreme  and  universal  con- 
secration to  God,  they  warn  us,  on  the  other,  against  set- 
ting our  hearts  upon  the  goods  of  this  world.  The  two 
united  operate,  like  the  powers  of  attraction  and  repulsion^ 
to  give  a  beneficent  direction  to  the  use  of  our  worldly 
resources.     He  that  hath  ears  to  hear,  let  him  hear. 

*  Luke  xii.  15-21. 


CHAPTER   XIV. 


The  progress  of  true  religion,  as  traced  in  the  Scriptures,  is  con- 
nected with  a  Uke  progression  in  the  sacrifice  of  money  upon  its 
objects. 


Religion  is  expansive  in  its  nature,  acting  upon  the 
texture  of  the  soul  much  like  heat  upon  a  material  ele- 
ment. Under  its  influence  the  heart  enlarges,  the  spirits 
glow,  the  congenial  emotions  kindle,  and  the  sympathies, 
like  the  tendrils  of  an  expanding  vine,  cling  to  whatever 
concerns  the  happiness  of  sentient  beings.  It  sublimates 
the  elements  of  our  nature,  so  that  they  mount  aloft  and 
become  diffused  over  the  whole  area  of  human  interests, 
falling  like  dew-drops  to  fertilize,  and  bless,  and  beautify 
the  world.  Nor  is  it  possible  for  the  mind  to  feel  those 
spiritual  impulses  which  bring  it  near  to  God,  without 
giving  being  to  a  train  of  visible  actings,  that  shall  corres- 
pond to  the  holy  energy  which  is  working  within.  What 
is  religion  but  the  fires  of  the  divinity  in  the  soul — what 
but  the  love  of  God  shed  abroad  in  the  heart  by  the  Holy 
Ghost  1  It  begins  by  an  aspiration  after  likeness  to  God 
glowing  as  the  fires  of  the  golden  altar. 


214  PIOUS  AMBITION  TO  BE  LIKE  GOD. 

And  as  the  methods  in  which  those  who  feel  it  can 
imitate  God  are  few,  how  anxious  are  they  to  improve 
these  to  the  utmost  extent  ?  The  justice  of  God  to  all, 
they  are  ambitious  to  copy  by  being  just  as  far  as  their 
facuhies  and  relations  extend.  After  his  undeviating 
truth  they  aspire,  by  speaking  the  truth  every  man  with 
his  neighbor.  And  his  diffusive  benevolence  to  all  in 
causing  his  sun  to  shine  on  the  evil  and  the  good,  and  his 
rain  to  fall  on  the  just  and  the  unjust,  they  rejoice  in 
being  able  to  exercise  within  the  sphere  of  their  influence. 
Hence,  they  lay  plans  for  mitigating  the  woes  of  the  un- 
fortunate, for  drying  the  tears  of  sorrow  and  assuaging 
the  tide  of  grief,  for  giving  food  to  the  hungry,  health  to 
the  sick,  clothing  to  the  naked,  instruction  to  the  ignorant, 
and  salvation  to  the  lost.  It  is  thus  that  the  genial 
warmth  of  heaven  dissolves  the  frozen  elements  of  our 
nature,  causing  them  to  flow  out  in  acts  of  mercy  and 
beneficence.  What  else  therefore  could  be  expected 
from  religion  of  such  a  nature,  but  that  its  increase  should 
be  connected  with  an  increase  of  gratuitous  expenditure 
upon  the  cause  of  God,  and  the  interests  of  mankind  ? 

Not  only  so,  but  the  ritual  exterior  which  God  has 
provided  for  religion,  or  the  forms  under  which  he  has 
designed  it  to  exist,  have  been  such  in  every  dispensation, 
as  to  require  pecuniary  sacrifice.  And  he  has  obviously 
made  the  consumption  of  property  as  necessary  to  its 
subsistence,  as  to  the  preservation  of  animal  life. 

Even  the  earliest  generations  of  men  understood  this 
peculiarity.  When  the  first  two  sons  of  the  first  man 
were   about  to  make  an  offering  unto  God,  they  chose 


ORIGIN  OF  PECUNIARY  OFFERINGS.  215 

each  that  in  which  his  property  consisted.*  Cain,  being 
a  husbandman,  brought  of  the  fruit  of  the  ground,  and 
Abel,  a  shepherd,  brought  of  the  firsthngs  of  the  flock. 
How  they  should  have  learned  that  God  requires  material 
gifts,  we  are  not  informed.  There  seems  to  be  nothing 
in  nature  to  suggest  the  idea.  Since  God  is  a  spirit,  free 
from  our  necessity  of  vegetable  or  animal  nourishment, 
whence  came  the  idea  which  began  so  early,  and  has 
diffused  itself  so  widely,  that  such  offerings  would  be  ac- 
ceptable to  him  ?  Though  nature  teaches  the  duty  of 
beneficence  to  man,  to  whom  our  goodness  may  extend, 
it  can  hardly  be  quoted  as  authority  for  offering  material 
gifts  to  Him,  who  is  above  being  benefited  by  any  thing 
we  can  do.  Perhaps  the  slaughter  of  those  beasts  which 
supplied  the  first  pair  with  clothing,  was  connected  with 
such  rites  as  imposed  on  them  the  duty  of  repeating  them. 
How  should  Cain's  offering  have  been  discountenanced, 
had  it  not  resulted  from  the  triumph  of  convenience  over 
an  explicit  command,  a  triumph  which  has  but  too  often 
been  witnessed  in  the  progress  of  ages  ?  As  his  pos-  ' 
sessions  consisted  in  vegetable  produce,  what  more  natu- 
ral than  that  his  faithless  heart  should  have  betrayed  him 
into  the  sacrifice  of  that,  at  the  same  time  that  he  knew 
the  spotless  lamb  to  be  the  instituted  type  of  Him,  who 
should  bruise  the  serpents  head  ?  The  origin  of  the  duty, 
however,  of  presenting  material  ofTerings  to  God,  is  not 
important,  since  we  know  that  they  were  accepted,  and 
anally  required  by  express  precept. 

*  Gen.  iv.  3—4. 


216        EXTRAORDINARY  CALLS NOAH. 

In  addition  to  the  expense  demanded  for  the  estabh'sh* 
ed  rites  of  religion,  were  the  extraordinary  calls  for 
pecuniary  sacrifice  which  were  naade  on  rare  occasions. 
Such  was  the  command  to  build  the  ark.  The  ex- 
pense in  property  and  labor  incurred  by  Noah  in  rearing 
that  enormous  structure,  was  the  direct  fruit  of  a  religious 
impulse,  not  less  than  the  sacrifice  of  Abel.  His  only 
reason  for  building  it,  was  the  confidence  he  reposed  in 
the  actual  occurrence  of  the  predicted  deluge.  The 
prescience  of  Noah  was  not  founded  in  any  natural  indi- 
cations of  such  an  approaching  convulsion  of  the  ele- 
ments ;  but  was  the  fruit  of  express  revelation.  So  great 
however  was  his  faith  in  God,  that  he  expended  all,  and 
exhausted  the  labor  of  a  hundred  years,  in  preparing  for 
a  crisis,  which,  he  and  his  family  were  the  only  persons 
living  that  believed  would  occur  to  make  it  necessary. 
Hence,  Noah's  ark  was  the  fruit  of  a  religious  impulse — 
it  was  an  offering  made  in  obedience  to  a  divine  call. 

But  it  is  not  duly  appreciated  at  this  remote  distance 
•of  time.  Suppose,  reader,  God  had  revealed  to  us  in  his 
written  word  his  intention  of  destroying  the  world  by 
another  deluge  in  the  fiftieth  year  of  the  present  century, — 
that  there  was  but  one  man  and  his  family  on  earth  who 
had  the  least  confidence  in  the  prediction — that  his  faith 
however  should  be  so  strong  as  to  withstand  the  tide  of 
universal  opinion  in  expending  all  he  had  in  preparing 
for  the  crisis  ; — if  such  a  scene  were  actually  passing  be- 
fore us  we  might  have  some  idea  of  Noah's  extraordinary 
faith.  To  have  withstood  for  a  hundred  years  the  in- 
difference,  and   even  scornful  opposition  of  the  whole 


EXTRAORDINARY  CALLS — NOAH.  217 

world,  to  an  object  in  which  he  had  staked  character, 
wealth,  and  all,  must  have  required  a  depth  of  religious 
feeling,  a  strength  of  confidence  in  God,  and  a  sublimity 
of  moral  courage,  of  which  we  have  little  conception. 
Many  of  us  consider  the  man  a  visionary,  who  expends  a 
few  thousand  dollars  upon  the  missionary  enterprise, 
where,  in  fact,  his  reason  for  thinking  that  God  requires  it, 
may  be  even  less  equivocal,  than  that  on  which  the  faith 
of  Noah  was  built ! 

I  am  aware,  however,  that  these  early  instances  of 
pecuniary  sacrifice  to  religion,  lose  their  force  on  us,  by 
reason  of  a  prevailing  impression,  that  the  nature  of  God's 
communications  to  the  patriarchs,  was  such,  as  to  pre- 
clude the  possibility  of  scepticism.  But  if  this  were  the 
fact,  why  were  they  not  more  generally  confided  in  ?  How 
could  Noah  have  evidence  of  such  a  future  event,  which 
baffled  in  him,  every  supposable  tendency  to  infidelity, 
when,  at  the  same  time,  he  was  unable  to  represent  that 
evidence,  so  as  to  produce  a  single  convert  beyond  his 
own  family  ?  The  most  extraordinary  feature  in  the  his- 
tory of  this  patriarch,  was  the  entire  surrender  of  himself 
on  the  strength  of  testimony  that  failed  of  producing  the 
least  conviction  beyond  his  own  fireside.  And  thus  it  was 
esteemed  by  one  whose  view  of  the  subject  deserves  con- 
fidence. By  faith,  Noah,  being  warned  of  God,  of  things 
not  seen  as  yet,  moved  with  fear,  prepared  an  ark  for  the 
saving  of  his  house  ;  by  which  he  condemned  the  world, 
and  became  heir  of  the  righteousness  which  is  by  faith.''" 
In  this  passage,  the  faith  of  Noah  is  held  up  to  admiration, 
*  Heb.  xi.  7. 
19 


218         EXTRAORDINARY  CALLS NOAH. 

and  not  the  extraordinary  nature  of  the  evidence  on  which 
it  was  founded.  But  with  how  Kttle  reason  the  apostle 
did  this,  if  that  evidence  was  such  as  to  annihilate  the  pos- 
sibility of  doubt,  or  if  all  that  was  extraordinary  in  the 
case,  lies  in  the  evidence,  and  not  in  the  faith,  every  one 
must  see. 

Indeed,  it  was  impossible  for  language  or  miracle  to 
render  the  deluge  any  more  certain  before  it  occurred^ 
than  it  now  is,  that  God  designs  to  make  his  gospel  uni- 
versally triumphant  in  the  earth,  by  means  of  the  labors 
and  sacrifices  of  the  church.  Did  God  acquaint  Noah 
with  his  purpose  of  destroying  the  world  by  water?  So,. 
he  has  acquainted  us  with  his  intention  of  giving  the  great* 
ness  of  the  kingdom  under  the  whole  heaven  to  the  peo- 
ple of  the  saints  of  the  Most  High  God.  Did  he  make 
known  the  necessity  of  labor  and  sacrifice  in  preparing 
for  the  deluge  ?  So,  he  has  taught  us  that  men  cannot 
believe  without  a  preacher,  nor  preachers  preach  except 
they  be  sent.  Did  he  teach  the  antediluvians  that  no  sal- 
vation could  be  had  out  of  the  ark  ?  So,  he  now  pro- 
claims in  the  ears  of  the  world  that  there  can  be  no  salva- 
tion without  faith  in  Christ.  Yet,  the  great  body  of  the 
nations  find  means  of  rejecting  the  latter  testimony,  just  as 
they  did  the  former.  Into  neither,  is  the  power  of  produ- 
cing irresistible  belief  incorporated.  And  though  God 
has  evidently  made  the  necessity  of  pecuniary  sacrifice  on 
the  strength  of  religious  faith  and  hope,  as  great  in  our 
case  as  in  that  of  Noah,  yet,  (tell  it  not  in  Gath  !)  there 
are  thousands  even  in  the  church  who  seem  as  uncon- 
scious of  any  such  necessity,  as  the  inhabitants  of  the  old 


RATE  OF  SACRIFICE PATRIARCHAL  A3E.  219 

world  were  of  their  need  of  an  ark  !  The  enormous 
expense  and  labor,  therefore,  which  Noah  laid  out  upon 
that  structure,  was  the  fruit  of  a  faith  that  operated  under 
all  the  disadvantages  which  ours  has  to  encounter;  and 
hence,  his  example  shows,  that  whenever  true  religion 
becomes  ascendant  in  the  sou],  it  will  draw  every  earthly 
interest  in  its  train,  and  convert  even  money  into  sweet 
incense  to  feed  the  fire  of  its  altars. 

But  we  have  no  mention  of  devoting  to  God  a  certain 
proportion  of  that  in  which  a  man's  property  consists,  till 
the  time  of  Abraham.  As  religion,  in  the  person  of  this 
patriarch,  appears  to  have  attained  an  unwonted  degree 
of  influence  over  the  human  character,  so  liberality  en- 
joyed a  proportionate  increase.  To  Melchizedek,  as 
priest  of  the  Most  High  God,  he  gave  a  tenth  of  the  spoils 
when  he  returned  from  the  slaughter  of  the  kings.*  In 
like  manner,  Jacob  pledged  himself  by  oath  to  devote  to 
God  a  similar  proportion  of  the  property  conferred  upon 
him.  This  was  done  at  his  first  meeting  with  God  on 
his  way  to  Padan-aram.  While  sleeping,  God  appeared 
in  a  dream,  and  confirmed  to  him  the  promise  mads  to  his 
fathers.  And  when  Jacob  awoke,  such  a  divine  awe 
tempered  with  sweetness,  came  over  him,  that  he  ex- 
claimed, Surely  the  Lord  is  in  this  place,  and  I  knew  it 
not.  And  he  was  afraid,  and  said.  How  dreadful  is  this 
place !  this  is  none  other  but  the  house  of  God,  and  this 
is  the  gate  of  heaven.  And  Jacob  vowed  a  vow,  saying, 
If  God  will  be  with  me,  and  will  keep  me  in  this  way 
that  I  go,  and  will  give  me  bread  to  eat,  and  raiment  to 
♦  Gen.  xiv.  19,  20. 


220  THE    MOSAIC    LAW. 

put  on,  so  that  I  come  again  to  my  father's  house  in  peace, 
then  shall  thef  Lord  be  my  God — and  of  all  that  thou  slialt 
give  me,  I  will  surely  give  the  tenth  unto  thee.'*'  This  was 
a  consecrated  moment  in  the  history  of  man — a  memora- 
ble era  in  the  annals  of  piety  !  On  that  eventful  night, 
as  this  young  man,  an  outcast  from  the  home  of  his 
parents,  was  sleeping  in  a  solitary  place,  with  the  heavens 
for  his  canopy,  and  a  rock  for  his  pillow,  he  received  an 
impulse  that  acted  upon  him  with  unabated  force  through 
life,  and  descended  to  his  posterity,  contributing  to  bestow 
on  them  their  subsequent  religious  preeminence.  Yea, 
that  was  the  starting  point  of  an  influence  which  on  earth 
is  as  wide-spread  as  revealed  religion,  and  which  at  this 
moment  thrills  through  all  the  ranks  of  glorified  saints  in 
heaven,  with  unutterable  joy  and  praise.  Behold,  reader, 
the  immediate  fruit  of  that  contact  of  earth  with  heaven ! 
It  was  no  other  than  a  vow  to  sacrifice  a  certain  rate  in 
property — a  vow,  too,  that  served  to  establish  a  principle, 
which  was  afterwards  incorporated  into  the  only  civil  code 
that  God  ever  gave  to  man.  For  it  was  enacted  in  the 
law  of  Moses,  that,  All  the  tithe  of  the  land,  whether  of 
the  seed  of  the  land,  or  the  fruit  of  the  tree,  should  be  holy 
unto  the  Lord.  And  of  the  tithe  of  the  herd,  or  of  the 
flocks,  even  of  whatsoever  passeth  under  the  rod,  the  tenth 
shall  he  holy  unto  the  Lord.-\  Thus,  it  became  a  standing 
ordinance  among  the  Jews,  that  a  tenth  of  the  proceeds 
of  their  industry,  should  be  given  up  to  religious  purposes. 
Before  this,  as  religion  itself  existed  only  in  detached 

♦  Gen.  xxviii.  16—22.  t  Lev.  xxvii,  30—32. 


THE    MOSAIC    LAW.  221 

cases,  and  as  there  was  no  visible  connection  between 
those  who  harbored  the  celestial  stranger,  so,  pecuniary- 
offerings  had  been  the  isolated  outbreakings  of  overflow- 
ing love  and  gratittfde,  rather  than  the  result  of  any 
organized  system  of  conduct.  But,  no  sooner  did  brighter 
periods  in  its  history  begin  to  dawn,  than  it  embodied 
itself  under  set  forms,  and  established  the  principle  which 
should  direct  its  votaries,  in  regard  to  the  proportion  of 
their  treasure  to  be  bestowed  upon  its  objects.  From 
this,  it  may  be  seen,  that  as  religion  itself  rises  and 
expands  among  the  moral  elements  of  this  world,  so  do 
sacrifices  in  money  for  its  advancement.  The  two  keep 
pace  with  each  other. 

Look  also  at  the  next  signal  stage  in  the  march  of  this 
heaven-born  influence,  as  it  appears  from  the  giving  of 
the  law  at  Mount  Sinai ;  and  the  result  in  reference  to 
the  expenditure  of  money,  will  be  found  the  same.  At 
the  call  of  Moses  upon  the  people  for  voluntary  contri- 
butions, they  came  every  one  whose  heart  stirrei  him  up, 
and  every  one  whom  his  spirit  made  willing,  and  they 
brought  the  Lord's  offerings  to  the  work  of  the  tabernacle 
of  the  congregation,  for  all  his  service,  for  the  holy  gar- 
ments, and  for  all  manner  of  work  which  the  Lord  had 
commanded  to  be  made  by  the  hand  of  Moses.*  Touched 
by  celestial  influences,  the  people,  even  in  the  vagrant 
unsettled  state  they  were  then  in,  exercised  a  liberality 
so  princely  and  profuse,  that  their  contributions  exceeded' 
the  demand  for  the  costly  works  which  Moses  was  order- 

*  Exod.  x.zx\.  5—21—29. 
19* 


222  REIGN  OF  DAVID  AND  SOLOMON. 

ed  to  prepare  ;  and  hence,  he  caused  it  to  be  proclaimed 
throughout  the  camp,  saying,  Let  neither  man  nor  wo- 
man make  any  more  work  for  the  offering  of  the  sanc- 
tuary. So  the  people  were  restrained  from  bringing.** 
The  foot  of  Sinai,  when  God  was  thundering  frotn  its 
awful  summit  and  proclaiming  his  law  in  the  ears  of  tho 
world,  was  no  place  for  niggard  avarice  to  hoard  his  gold, 
or  sordid  selfishness  to  remain  coiled  in  the  shell  of  its 
own  little  interests.  The  world,  its  honor,  pleasure,  and 
affluence,  from  such  a  point  of  observation,  would  appear 
in  all  its  emptiness,  and  the  heart  would  glow  to  make 
what  of  it,  it  possessed,  subservient  to  Him  who  filled  the 
eye,  the  ear,  and  the  soul !  Oh  !  the  presence  of  God  is 
no  place  for  frigid  emotions  and  sordid  plans  of  life ! 
Could  even  the  miser  come  there,  his  rigid  nerves  would 
relax,  and  his  unclenched  hands  would  scatter  their 
golden  contents  all  abroad  on  works  of  devotion  and 
good  will. 

Passing  over  minor  cases,  let  your  thoughts  be  direc- 
ted next  to  the  revival  of  religion  under  David  and  Solo- 
mon. The  eighty  years  covered  by  these  two  reigns 
were  the  golden  age  of  the  ritual  economy.  It  never  be* 
fore,  and  never  after,  reached  an  elevation  so  command- 
ing, so  illuvstrious.  *  There  is  good  reason  to  believe,  that 
for  diflTused  enjoyment  and  personal  liberty,  for  elevation 
of  sentiment,  and  purity  of  manners,  no  contemporary 
nation  could  offer  such  a  specimen  of  popular  felicity,' 
as  then  existed  in  the  Holy  Land.     '  Considered  in  their 

♦  Exod.  XXX  vi.  6. 


EEIGN  OF  DAVID  AND  SOLOMON.  2-23 

secular  aspect,  the  characteristic  principle  of  the  Mosaic 
institutions  was  the  private  good  of  the  people.  What- 
ever the  forms  of  the  polity  might  be,  the  spirit  of  it  was, 
in  the  best  sense,  popular ;  since  the  security,  the 
tiompetence,  the  personal  dignity,  and  the  enjoyments 
of  every  son  of  Abraham,  was  the  intention  of  every 
enactment.  Redeemed  from  the  furnace  of  Egypt,  and 
led  into  a  land  flowing  with  milk  and  honey,  the  economy 
of  social  life  was  so  constructed,  as  to  yield  the  greatest 
possible  amount  of  plenty  and  pleasure  to  every  citizen. 
Every  man  who  had  sprung  from  the  loins  of  Abraham 
v/as  noble  ;  and  the  forfeiture  of  that  patrimony  which 
enabled  him  to  support  the  simple  honors  of  his  birth  was 
a  desperate  calamity,  guarded  against  by  extraordinary 
provisions.  The  motto  of  the  community  was  "  Every 
oian  under  his  vine  and  under  his  fig-tree  ;  none  daring 
to  make  him  afraid."  Go  eat  the  fat  of  the  land,  to  make 
his  heart  merry  with  wine,  and  to  render  praise  to  God, 
duty  to  the  priest,  and  a  generous  portion  to  the  father- 
less, the  widow,  and  the  stranger,  was  the  precept  and 
the  privilege  of  all.'*  Under  the  two  first  kings  of  the 
dynasty  that  finally  proved  permanent,  the  privileges  of 
this  beneficent  polity  were  enjoyed  in  their  highest  perfec- 
tion, and  diffused  over  their  widest  extent  of  surface. 
David,  a  man  after  God's  own  heart,  while  yet  the  keeper 
of  his  father's  sheep  among  the  glens  of  Bethlehem,  be- 
came deeply  imbued  with  the  spirit  of  religion ;  and  ever 
after  (abating  one  or  two  triumphs  of  our  common  depra- 
vity, which,  however,  were  followed  by  a  repentance  that 
*  Spiritual  Despotism. 


224  THE  TEMPLE. 

rendered  his  piety  even  more  unquestionable  than  before,) 
threw  his  whole  soul  and  the  enormous  influence  which 
his  unrivalled  career  gave  him,  into  the  work  of  consoli- 
dating and  extending  the  Heaven- inspired  polity  of  the 
nation.  His  powers  of  poetry  and  song,  so  soothing  to 
the  perturbed  nerves  of  abandoned  Saul,  so  fruitful  in  the 
strains  of  unearthly  devotion  filling  the  nation  with  piety 
and  pleasure,  and  so  successful  in  giving  body,  soul,  and 
expression  to  the  elTusions  of  holy  men  in  every  age, 
were  all  thrown  into  the  scale  of  truth,  and,  as  much  as 
the  brilliancy  of  his  heroic  deeds  perhaps,  facilitated  the 
triumph  of  religion  over  the  public  mind.  And  Solomon 
at  the  commencement  of  his  reign,  and  probably  many 
years  after  contributed  his  unrivalled  wisdom,  leisure 
from  war,  and  unbounded  resources,  to  advance  the  same 
work.  The  consequence  was,  not  merely  that  the  nation, 
was  raised  to  be  one  of  the  most  powerful  in  the  earth,  but 
that  the  true  religion  attained  an  unwonted  ascendency 
over  its  mhabitants.  And  it  is  remarkable  that  the 
amount  of  treasure  expended  on  its  institutions,  was  in  the 
same  proportion  greater  than  at  any  other  period  in  the 
Hebrew  annals,  as  the  ascendency  of  religion  itself  was 
greater. 

The  feelings  of  the  nation,  and  its  leader,  in  reference 
to  the  sacrifice  of  wealth  upon  the  altar  of  their  faith,  are 
graphically  depicted  in  some  of  the  last  acts  and  expres- 
sions of  David's  reign.  Now,  I  have  prepared,  says  that 
monarch,  with  all  my  might  for  the  house  of  my  God,  the 
gold,  silver,  brass,  iron,  wood,  onyx  stones,  glistering 
stones  of  diverse  colors ;  and  all  manner  of  precious  stones 


THE  TEMPLE.  2'25 

•«nd  marble  in  abundance.  Moreover,  because  I  have  set 
my  affection  to  the  house  of  my  God,  I  have  of  my  own 
proper  good,  (from  his  private  treasures)  of  gold  and  silver, 
v/hich  I  have  given  to  the  house  of  God,  over  and  above  all 
that  I  have  prepared  for  the  holy  house,  even  three  thou- 
sand talents  of  the  gold  of  Ophir,  and  seven  thousand  ta- 
knts  of  refined  silver  to  overlay  the  wall  of  the  houses. 
Not  content  with  giving  himself,  this  pious  king  calls  on 
his  people  to  follow  his  example.  Who  then,  he  inquires, 
is  willing  to  consecrate  his  service  this  day  unto  the  Lord  ? 
Then  the  chief  of  the  fathers,  the  princes  of  Israel,  and 
the  rulers  over  the  king's  work,  offered  willingly  to  the 
service  of  the  house  of  God,  of  gold  five  thousand  draras, 
of  silver,  ten  thousand  talents  ;  of  brass,  eighteen  thou- 
sand, and  a  hundred  thousand  talents  of  iron.  And  the]/" 
v/ith  whom  precious  stones  were  found,  gave  them  to  the 
treasure  of  the  house  of  the  Lord.  Nor  were  these 
princely  offerings  presented  with  a  grudging,  constrained 
spirit,  but  the  people  rejoiced  that  they  offered  tinllingly : 
and  David  the  king  also  rejoiced  with  great  joy.  Then 
follows  the  prayer  in  which  the  king  and  people  joined, 
which  breathes  a  spirit  that  should  animate  every  indivi- 
dual in  presenting  his  offerings  before  the  Lord.  Thine^ 
O  Lord,  is  the  greatness — power — glory — victory — ma- 
jesty-—j^r  all  that  is  in  heaven  and  earth  is  thine.  Both 
riches  and  honors  come  of  thee.  But  who  am  I,  and 
what  is  my  people,  that  we  should  be  able  to  offer  so 
willingly ;  for  all  this  store  that  we  have  prepared,  to 
build  a  house  for  thy  holy  name,  cometh  of  thy  hand,  and 
is  ull  thine  own.     Thus,  they  explicitly   disavow  any 


226 


THE  TEMPLE. 


claim  upon  God  on  account  of  what  they  had  given,  since 
they  had  returned  to  him  a  part  of  what  was  all  his  own.* 
These  were  the  feelings  with  which  offerings  of  the  most 
costly  kind,  were  presented  to  God,  in  that  golden  period 
of  the  ritual  dispensation. 

The  erection  of  the  temple  and  its  subsidiary  build- 
ings, consumed  sums  in  money  and  other  property,  too 
immense  for  calculation.  Perhaps  no  work  of  art,  now 
in  existence,  will  compare  for  costliness  and  splendor, 
with  the  temple  of  Jerusalem.  Some  idea  may  be  formed 
of  it,  by  considering  the  number  of  workmen  employed, 
and  the  length  of  time  consumed  in  its  erection.  There 
was  first  made  a  levy  of  thirty  thousand  men  to  obtain 
the  crude  materials  from  Lebanon,  and  eighty  thousand 
employed  as  hewers  upon  the  mountains  to  prepare  them 
for  use ;  and  there  were  besides  seventy  thousand  engaged 
in  transporting  them  to  their  place  of  destination  and 
rearing  them  up  into  the  structure;  and  these  were  all 
under  the  conduct  of  three  thousand  three  hundred  offi- 
cers, making  in  all  one  hundred  eighty  three  thousand 
three  hundred  men.f  Yet,  so  vast  was  the  work  that  this 
numerous  company  were  occupied  upon  it  seven  years, 
before  it  was  ready  for  dedication-!  Not  only  so,  but 
the  material  itself  was  of  the  most  costly  kind.  Almost 
the  whole  structure  was  overlaid  with  gold,  and  its  furni- 
ture, such  as  the  altar,  the  table  of  showbread,  the  ten 
candlesticks,  the  lamps,  the  snuffers,  the  bowls,  the  flowers, 
the  tongs,  the  basons,  the  spoons,  the  censors,  and  stones, 

♦  1  Chron.  xxix.  1—16.    t  1  Kings,  v.  13-18.    t  1  Kings,  vi.  38. 


THE  TEMPLE.  227 

even  the  hinges  of  the  doors,  were  all  of  beaten  gold. 
And,  in  addition,  the  immense  treasures  which  David  had 
dedicated  to  the  Lord  as  noticed  above,  even  the  silver, 
the  gold,  and  the  vessels,  were  put  among  the  consecrated 
contents  of  the  holy  temple.*  And  Solomon  left  all  the 
vessels  unweighed,  because  they  were  exceeding  many  ; 
neither  was  the  weight  of  the  brass  found  out.t 

It  should  be  considered  that  this  stupendous  edifice, 
with  its  unbounded  profusion  of  the  precious  metals,  was 
purely  a  religious  offering,  being  built  by  divine  direction 
as  the  house  of  prayer  for  all  people,  and  as  the  seat 
from  which  God  should  promulgate  his  decrees  to  the 
world. 

"  Thus,  such  delight  had  God  in  men 
Obedient  to  his  will,  that  he  vouchsaf 'd 
Among  them  to  set  up  his  tabernacle, 
The  holy  one  with  mortal  men  to  dwell."t 

Hence,  the  spirit  of  liberality  in  consecrating  treasure  to 
God,  rose  with  the  heaven-inspired  religion  of  the  past 
dispensation,  insomuch  that  when  the  latter  had  attained 
the  zenith  of  its  glory,  the  former  stood  at  an  elevation 
equally  remarkable,  equally  sublime. 

In  the  decline  also  of  that  moonlight  era  of  the  world, 
whenever  the  lustre  of  religion  was  clouded  by  sin  and 
idolatry,  the  holy  temple  went  to  decay ;  the  ofTerings 
necessary  to  the  beautiful  order  of  its  worship  were  with- 
held ;  its  consecrated  priests  pined  with  want,  and  a  rigid 
selfishness  froze  the  vitals  of  the  nation.  No  sooner, 
however,  did  a  pious  king  succeed  to  David's  throne,  to 

*  1  Kings,  Yii,  48-51,  1 1  Kings,  vii.  47.  t  MUton. 


228  SUBSEQUENT   REIGNS. 

redress  these  gn'ievances,  and  to  shed  the  genial  infiuerr- 
ces  of  religion  abroad,  than  the  purse-strings  of  the  nation 
were  untied,  and  offerings  flowed  amain.  Such  v/as  the 
fact  under  the  pious  reigns  of  Joash,  Hezekiah,  Asa, 
Jehoshaphat,  and  Josiah.  Encouraged  by  the  first  of 
these  naonarchs,  J^hoida,  the  priest,  took  a  chest,  and 
bored  a  hole  in  the  lid  of  it,  and  set  it  beside  the  altar,  on 
the  right  side  as  one  cometh  into  the  house  of  the  Lord — 
and  the  priests  that  kept  the  door  brought  therein  all  the 
money  that  was  brought  into  the  house  of  the  Lord.  And 
it  was  so  that  there  was  much  money  in  the  chest,  and  it 
was  put  into  the  hands  of  workmen  to  repair  the  house  of 
the  Lord.*  Thus,  impelled  by  a  renewed  zeal  in  the 
religion  of  their  fathers,  the  people  met  with  promptitude 
the  call  for  their  contributions,  which  was  made  to  repair 
the  house  of  the  Lord.  And  it  is  no  sooner  said  that  the 
heart  of  Asa  was  perfect  all  his  days,  than  it  is  added, 
that  he  brought  into  the  house  of  the  Lord  the  things  that 
his  father  had  dedicated,  and  that  he  himself  had  dedica- 
ted, silver,  and  gold,  and  vessels.f  A  like  spirit  also  ani- 
mated Josiah,  who  walked  in  all  the  ways  of  David,  his 
father,  and  turned  not  aside  to  the  right  hand  or  to  the 
lefl.  And  the  fruits  of  his  piety  were  seen  iu  devoting 
large  sums  of  money  to  repair  the  breaches  in  the  house 
of  the  Lord.:]:  Thus,  whenever  piety  presided  over  the 
destinies  of  the  nation,  the  doors  of  the  house  of  the  Lord 
were  opened  and  repaired ;  the  uncleanness  which  a  more 
impious  age  had  left  to  collect  in  its  sacred  recess  was  re- 

*  2  Kings'xii.  9.    t  2  Chron.  xy.  17, 18.    t  2  Chron.  xxxiii.  8—15. 


RETURN   FROM   CAPTIVITY.  239 

moved;  the  priests  sanctified  themselves;  the  fire  of 
slaughtered  victims  burned  upon  the  altars ;  the  songs  of 
Zion  were  restored  ;  and  the  ministers  of  religion  confes- 
sed with  gratitude  that,  since  the  people  began  to  bring 
the  offerings  into  the  house  of  the  Lord,  we  have  had 
enough  to  eat,  and  have  left  plenty — for  the  Lord  hath 
blessed  his  people ;  and  that  which  is  left,  is  this  great 
store.* 

We  may  add,  also,  the  unparalleled  sacrifices 
which  the  remnant  made  that  returned  from  Babylon,  in 
rearing  up  the  demolished  walls  o/"  Jerusalem,  in  rebuild- 
ing the  temple,  and  restoring  che  beautiful  order  of  its 
worship.  The  people  not  o«ly  had  a  mind  to  give,  but 
to  work,  throwing  all  their  energy  and  resources  into  the 
project  of  resuscitating  the  dying  embers  of  their  ancient 
faith.  The  result  is  k^own — the  wall  was  built,  though 
in  troublous  times ;  tte  temple  was  restored  ;  the  various 
orders  of  priests  began  their  courses  ;  the  soi.gs  of  Zion 
again  reverberated  from  the  neighboring  hills ;  and  odorifer- 
ous fires  burned  upon  the  golden  altar.f  Thus,  through- 
out the  primary  dispensation  of  heaven's  influences  to 
man,  the  vigor  of  the  voluntary  principle  in  contributing 
money,  waxed  or  waned  with  a  waxing  or  waning  faith, 
and  the  amount  expended  gratuitously  from  motives  of 
piety  in  any  given  age,  may  be  taken  as  a  criterion  of  the 
degree  of  religious  influence  in  that  a^e. 

Nor  is  this  peculiarity  confined  to  the  former  dispen- 
sations, but  is  as  prominent  at  the  era  of  Christianity  as 

*2Chron.  xxix.  xxx.  xxxi.  t  Ezra,  Nthemiah. 

20 


230  SACRIFICES   OF   CHRIST. 

it  had  been  before.  Look  at  the  life  of  Jesus.  Was 
there  ever  one  filled  up  with  a  more  untiring  zeal  in  the 
cause  of  humanity  ?  From  what  toils  did  he  shrink  in 
doing  good  to  the  bodies  and  souls  of  men  ?  Though  so 
poor  as  not  to  have  where  to  lay  his  head,  he  contrived  to 
pour  out  his  bounty  in  bread  for  the  hungry,  and  health 
for  the  sick,  ard  clothing  for  the  naked,  and  instruction 
for  the  ignorant,  and  correction  for  the  vicious,  and  life 
from  the  dead  !  His  life  was  exhausted  upon  the  tempo- 
ral and  immortal  inteiests  of  mankind.  In  him  we  see  no 
division  of  labor  between  his  own  personal  good  and  the 
good  of  others;  no  plan^  of  acquiring  for  himself;  no 
attempt  to  throw  around  hin»5elf  the  lustre  of  a  name  ;  no 
fQrecasting  for  his  full  shar«  in  the  earthly  advantages 
accruing  from  his  surpassing  powers;  but  all  was 
bestowed  undivided  and  unabated  upon  the  good  of  the 
human  family.  And  to  close  the  scene  in  this  tragedy  of 
love,  he  gave,  what  we  would  give  th«  world  to  keep,  his 
life,  a  ransom  for  our  sins. 

"Religion  !  ihou  the  soul  of  happiness, 
And  groaning  Calvary,  of  thee  !    There  shine 
The  noblest  truths;  there  strongest  motives  sting ; 
There  sacred  violence  assaults  the  sou. ; 
There,  nothing  but  compulsion  is  forborne. 
Eternity  too  short  to  speak  thy  praise  ! 
Or  fathom  thy  profound  of  lovc;  to  man  !"* 

Smit  by  his  spirit,  there  were  those  in  his  time  of  previous 
habits  hostile  to  the  practice  of  a  common  beneficence,  or 
even  of  equal  justice  between  man  and  man,  that  poured 

*  Young. 


ZACCHEUS.  231 

out  their  treasures  like  water  before  him.  Rich  and 
chief  among  the  publicans,  whose  office  was  the  hot-bed 
of  rapine  and  violence,  Zaccheus  was  the  most  unpromis- 
ing subject  of  the  expansive  power  of  a  heaven-born  faith. 
But,  no  sooner  had  its  genial  influences  come  over  his 
soul,  than  it  was  dissolved  to  its  elements ;  its  rigid  foun- 
dations gave  way,  and  he  cried  out,  Behold,  Lord,  the 
half  of  my  goods  I  give  to  the  poor ;  and  if  I  have  taken 
any  thing  from  any  man,  by  false  accusation,  I  restore 
him  four-fold.*  This  instance  is  sufficient  forever  to  con- 
found that  feint  of  a  covetous  spirit,  that  the  Old  Testa- 
ment is  no  rule  for  us  in  the  use  of  money,  because  we 
are  not  under  the  law,  but  grace  ;  as  if  the  more  perfect 
religion  of  the  Son  of  God,  which  comes  in  like  the  splen- 
dors of  day  upon  the  pale  beams  of  a  preceding  night, 
were  less  hostile  to  a  grasping  sordid  propensity,  than  the 
one  previously  revealed.  Whereas,  its  only  difference  in 
this  respect  is,  that  its  tendency  to  produce  liberality  is  in 
the  same  proportion  more  energetic,  as  it  is  a  more  pow- 
erful element  for  the  government  of  human  conduct.  To 
suppose  that  a  man  drawn  up  to  heaven  by  a  hand  that  is 
never  opened  but  in  love  and  good  will — a  man  feeling 
the  vital  influence  of  a  system  of  faith  which  has  sacrifice 
written  upon  it  in  the  beginning,  midst,  and  end,  is  left 
more  at  liberty  to  indulge  an  exclusive  spirit,  than  the  one 
who  received  the  religion  that  blazed  from  Sinai's  dreary 
summit,  is  to  break  up  all  the  principles  of  connection  be- 
tween cause  and  effect.     We  might  as  well  undertake  to 

*  Luke  xix,  8. 


DAY   OF    PENTECOST. 

say  that  the  earth  would  vegetate  best  under  the  shining 
of  the  moon  and  stars,  rather  than  under  the  more  potent 
beams  of  the  sun. 

Look  at  the  day  of  Pentecost.*  Mark  the  effect  that 
followed.  Did  ever  the  like  occur  before  in  the  annals  of 
man  ?  A  large  company  of  men  from  all  parts  of  the 
world ;  unknown  to  each  other ;  educated  under  circum- 
stances as  various  as  the  individuals  themselves  ;  occupy- 
ing every  grade  from  abject  poverty  to  plethoric  abun- 
dance ;  and  in  rank,  equally  diverse — throwing  their 
wealth  into  a  common  reservoir  to  which  all  might  claim 
an  equal  right.  This  is  an  instance  without  a  parallel  in 
the  history  of  property.  And,  wherefore  this  sudden  let- 
ting  go  of  the  world  ?  this  levelling  of  distinctions  ?  this 
commingling  of  foreign  hearts  ?  this  voluntary  consent  to 
a  common  right  in  property  ?  That  the  Spirit,  like  a 
rushing  mighty  wind,  came  down  as  it  never  did  before, 
opening  upon  the  world  a  new  era  in  the  progress  of  reli- 
gion ;  that  they  were  pricked  in  the  heart  with  the  sword 
of  celestial  truth  ;  and  that  they  were  thrown  under 
heaven's  beam  no  longer  aslant,  but  vertical,  explains  all. 
It  was  no  time  for  one  to  think  himself  richer  tjian 
another.  As  well  might  thoughts  of  this  kind  obtrude  be- 
fore the  burning  throne  in  heaven  ;  or  as  well  might  the 
spirit  of  a  just  man  made  perfect,  lose  himself  in  a  reverie 
among  his  goods  on  earth.  No ;  the  portals  of  the  New 
Jerusalem  were  thrown  open,  and  for  the  time  the  elements 
of  an  immortal  existence  triumphed  over  the  cold  and  sor- 
did dregs  of  an  earthly  passion.     Nor  were  like  effects 

♦  Actg  ii, 


AGENCIES — PRIMITIVE   CHURCHES.  233 

confined  to  that  tinne  and  place,  but  flew  on  the  wings  of 
the  newly  begotten  hope  of  a  better  resurrection ;  and  when- 
ever converts  were  made  to  Christ,  converts  were  made 
to  a  system  of  unwonted  liberality  in  the  use  of  money. 
The  apostles  associated  agencies  for  the  collection  of 
money  with  their  labors  to  propagate  the  gospel ;  and  from 
Jerusalem  to  Rome,  and  from  Rome  to  Spain,  the  same 
voice  that  proclaimed  Jesus  and  the  resurrection,  called 
for  contributions  to  the  poor,  to  the  imprisoned,  to  the  dis- 
penser of  spiritual  good,  and  to  other  objects  of  benefi- 
cence. 

But  the  expansive  influence  of  the  gospel  upon  the 
heart  in  the  first  age  of  the  church,  requires  no  explana- 
tion, no  eulogy.  Hence,  what  we  have  gathered  from 
the  progressive  development  of  religion  from  the  earliest 
records  of  man,  to  its  present  most  perfect  disclosures, 
may  serve  to  set  the  point  in  a  light  clear  enough  to  con- 
vince the  unprejudiced,  that  an  increase  in  the  amount  of 
pecuniary  sacrifices  is  an  inseparable  consequence  of 
increased  piety  and  devotion.  As  mercy  is  heaven's  de- 
light, mercy  is  religion's  element — mercy,  active,  substan- 
tial, and  self-denying — growing  with  the  growth,  and 
strengthening  with  the  strength  of  those  graces  and  emo^ 
tions  in  which  the  Spirit  of  God  baptizes  the  soul, 

20* 


CHAPTER  XV 


A  spirit  greedy  of  the  world  is  represented,  not  only  as  closing  the 
gates  of  life,  but  as  an  object  of  pecuhar  maledictions. 

The  argument  of  the  preceding  chapter  is  twin  to  one 
that  looks  another  way,  bringing  from  an  opposite  source 
considerations  no  less  potent,  in  establishing  the  principle 
that  the  religion  of  the  Bible  fails  of  its  legitimate  results, 
where  no  system  of  beneficence,  and  no  plans  of  pious 
expenditure  have  yet  been  formed,  A  grasping  propen- 
sity  is  held  up  in  Scripture  as  a  principal  obstruction  to 
the  blessings  of  salvation,  and  as  an  object  of  peculiar 
maledictions.  The  cares  of  this  world  and  the  deceitful- 
ness  of  riches  are  represented  as  choking  the  word,  or  to 
change  the  figure,  as  quenching  the  embers  of  piety  in 
the  soul.  They  put  out  faith  ;  they  drown  the  con- 
science ;  they  extinguish  the  flame  of  love  ;  they  nourish 
grovelling  propensities  ;  they  drench  the  pinions  of  hope 
so  as  to  disqualify  them  for  bearing  the  soul  upward  to- 
wards  its  native  heaven ;  they  repress  all  the  aspiring 
energies  of  an  immortal  existence ;  and  thus, 

"  Gold  glitters  most,  where  virtue  shines  no  more, 
As  stars  from  absent  suns  have  leave  to  shine." 

Hence,  by  representing  the  love  of  money  as  shutting 


236  WORLD  USED,  BUT  NOT  USED  OUT. 

out  men  from  the  blessings  of  salvation,  and  preventing 
the  growth  of  piety  in  the  soul,  the  Scriptures  as  directly 
inculcate  the  duty  in  question,  as  by  all  they  say  to  show 
that  the  uniform  tendency  of  religion  is,  to  enlarge  the 
heart,  and  augment  the  means  of  mercy.  The  object  of 
those  representations  cannot  be  to  discourage  industry  in 
those  callings  by  which  wealth  is  obtained  ;  for  there  is 
much  said  in  the  Scriptures  to  enjoin  it :  they  must,  there- 
fore, be  intended  to  discountenance  the  excessive  love, 
and  exclusive  use,  of  what  we  obtain  by  our  industry. 
It  is  against  such  a  use  of  it,  that  we  are  to  understand 
the  much  that  is  said  in  the  Bible  about  the  tendency  of 
riches  to  exclude  men  from  the  kingdom  of  God. 

The  apostle  appears  to  have  had  so  vivid  a  sense  of 
the  danger  to  which  we  stand  exposed  from  the  influence 
of  this  world,  that  he  directs  us  to  use  it  as  not  abusing, 
or  as  not  using  it  out :  that  is,  that  our  worldly  joys,  sor- 
rows, and  gratifications,  instead  of  being  indulged  up  to 
the  limit  of  what  might  be  lawful,  should  always  stop 
somewhat  short,  lest  by  approaching  the  extreme  bound- 
aries of  right,  we  overstep,  and  thus  trespass  upon  for- 
bidden ground.  The  time  is  so  short,  and  every  thing 
earthly  so  soon  to  pass  away,  why  should  we  not  circum- 
scribe our  attention  to  it  within  as  narrow  limits  as  possi- 
ble ?  Shall  we  revel  through  life  among  those  earthly 
emotions,  whether  of  pleasure  or  pain,  which  are  so 
soon  to  be  lost  amid  the  wreck  of  other  things  ?  It  re- 
maineth,  that  they  that  have  wives  be  as  though  they  had 
none  ;  and  they  that  weep,  as  though  they  wept  not ;  and 
they  that  rejoice,  as  though  they  rejoiced  not ;  and  they 


FLECHIER.  237 

that  buy,  as  though  they  possessed  not ;  and  they  that 
use  this  world,  as  not  abusing  it ;  for  the  fashion  of  this 
world  passeth  away.* 

It  has  been  suggested,  I  think,  with  propriety,  that  the 
clause  rendered  in  the  received  version,  •  using  the  world 
as  not  abusing  it,'  "  hints  at  a  very  important  truth  else- 
where taught  in  Scripture,  that  men  are  not  proprietors  of 
the  world,  but  merely  sojourners  and  strangers  as  all 
their  fathers  were ;  lodgers  in  the  inn  ;  wayfaring  men 
who  tarry  for  a  night,  and  may  use,  but  not  destroy  the 
caravansary  which  they  for  a  time  occupy,  but  never 
own,  and  which  they  must  soon  relinquish  to  the  next 
comer.  They  are  tenants  at  will,  and  may  gather  the 
fruit  of  the  year,  but  not  destroy  it  by  cutting  down  the 
tree,  as  savages  do  ;  or  to  speak  literally,  no  man  is  entitled 
to  use  property  to  the  neglect  of  the  after-rights  of  other 
men.  He  should  only  so  use  it  as  to  leave  it  unimpaired 
for  their  occupancy. "f     Flechier  in  one  of  his  Funeral 

*  1  Cor.  vii.  29—31. 

t  The  following  is  a  summary  of  the  argument  for  such  a 
rendering  of  ol  ^piojievoi  rcy  Koa^M  rovTM,  us  /^^  «fara;^j9a3/i£voi,  whlch, 
on  account  of  being  too  critical  for  general  readers,  is  embodied 
in  this  note,  for  the  benefit  of  those  who  may  have  the  inclina- 
tion to  examine  it.  "The  Vulgate,  and  the  modern  European 
versions  formed  from  it,  render  Kara^x^pdJ^Lcvoi  as  '  using,*  not  as 
*  abusing.'  The  Arabic  and  the  Tigurine  Latin,  are  also  quoted 
by  Pool  as  giving  this  construction ;  and  it  is  the  rendering 
adopted  also  by  Calvin,  Erasmus,  Grotius,  and  Rosenmuller. 
This  rendering  better  agrees  with  the  context  where  Paul  is  argu- 
ing, not  against  evident  wrong,  but  the  entire  and  full  use  of 
what  is  right.  It  is  the  only  construction  allowed  by  the  con- 
text in  the  other  instance  where  this  word  occurs.    This  is 


238  LIMITED  USE  OF  A  EIGHT. 

Orations  has  paraphrased  this  passage,  which  he  had  made 
his  text.  The  Christian  is  to  use  the  world  *  wisely  as  a 
means,  without  irregulai'ly  cleaving  to  it  as  an  end  ;  as 
one  who  knows  how  to  rejoice  without  dissipation,  to  sor- 
row without  despair,  to  desire  without  anxiety,  to  acquire 

1  Cor.  ix.  18,  and  is  the  only  other  case  in  which  the  word  is 
found  in  the  New  Testament.  In  this  chapter,  the  apostle,  after 
showing  the  right  of  ministers  to  claim  a  support,  proceeds  to 
state  that  for  particular  reasons  he  had  used  or  insisted  upon  no 
such  right.  He  made  his  reward  consist,  not  in  being  paid  for 
his  services,  but  in  preaching  the  gospel  without  charge,  and  so, 
in  not  *  using'  the  power  or  right  which  the  gospel  gave  him  to 
claim  a  support.  Hence  Bioomfield  declares,  *  that  the  Koraxpcifi- 
tvoi  is  taken  by  the  best  commentators  for  x9^'^^"^h  '  ^o  ^^^- 
Grotius,  as  quoted  by  Pool,  refers  to  Plato  and  Lysias,  to 
show  that  ;;^;(963^£j/ot  and  KaTaxpoJfxtvoi  are  the  same  except  that 
the  latter  seems  to  have  somewhat  more  fullness  of  meaning. 
Among  the  meanings  it  bears  in  its  use  by  Herodotus,  Donnegan 
gives  that  of  *  consume,'  and  quotes  from  -^schines  a  passage 
where  its  sense  is  to  '  dispose  of  This  heightened  sense  o^  con- 
suming or  using  to  the  full  is  the  natural  effect  of  the  preposition 
Kara  with  whicii  the  verb;^pw^aj  is  here  compounded.  (See  Butt- 
man's  Larger  Grammar,  p.  413.)  It  conveys,  according  to  him, 
the  idea  of  completion.  On  turning  to  Donnegan  and  contrasting 
the  simple  verb,  with  its  compounds  as  formed  by  Kara,  the  force 
of  this  will  be  seen.  Tkus,  the  verb  signifying  originally*  to 
wet,'  becomes  '  to  wet  thoroughly'  when  compounded  with  Kara. 
And  similarly  compounded  verbs  signifying  *  to  eat,'  'to  sleep,'  *  to 
empty,'  *  to  drink,'  become  'to  eat  m/?,' '  to  sleep  om<,'  'to  empty 
out,^  *  to  drink  up.^  May  we  not,  therefore,  be  allowed  to  alter  here 
our  very  excellent  translation,  by  changing  abuse  into  '  use  out,' 
or  '  consume.'  The  context,  the  proper  force  of  prepositions  in 
composition,  the  above  named  translators,  and  the  instances  cited 
of  similar  classic  use,  may  be  urged  in  defence  of  this  rendering.' 


ANANIAS  AND  SAPPPIIRA.  239 

without  injustice,  to  possess  without  pride,  and  to  lose 
without  pain.' 

Unless  we  practise  self-denial  in  regard  to  things  in 
themselves  lawful,  and  thus  set  so  lightly  by  the  world  as 
to  refrain  from  using  our  right  to  it  up  to  the  full  extent, 
our  passion  for  it  will  be  apt  to  acquire  such  intensity  as 
to  betray  us  into  overt  and  dangerous  sins.  The  Scrip- 
tures furnish  many  cases  in  which  devotion  to  this  world, 
after  being  for  a  time  confined  within  the  bare  limits  of 
integrity,  broke  loose  with  fearful  devastation  upon  both 
the  body  and  the  soul.  It  was,  probably,  by  an  overscru- 
pulous regard  to  a  claim  upon  their  estate  which  was  in 
itself  just  and  disputed  by  none,  that  Ananias  and  Sap- 
phira  were  betrayed  into  the  sin  of  keeping  back  a  part  of 
the  price,  when  they  professed  to  give  up  all,  and  so,  like 
Nadab  and  Abihu  under  a  former  dispensation,  were 
struck  dead  even  under  the  full  blaze  of  mercy's  reign. 
This  circumstance,  contrasted  with  the  tendency  of  grace 
upon  its  subjects  to  produce  liberality,  adds  force  to  our 
argument,  and  stands  as  a  perpetual  admonition  to  those 
who  in  profession  place  all  at  the  feet  of  religion,  but  in 
reality  keep  back  a  part  of  the  price.  Alas  !  this  calcula- 
ting policy,  under  pretext  of  saying,  makes  a  wreck 
of  all  and  drowns  its  victims  in  destruction  and  perdi- 
tion. 

There  is  no  character  brought  to  view  in  the  Bible, 
which  succeeding  generations  have  regarded  with  more 
decided  and  unmingled  detestation,  than  that  of  Ju- 
das. The  traitor  to  a  cause  of  greater  glory  and 
goodness  than  any  other,  and  to  a  friendship  the  most 


240  PURPOSES   OF   JUDAS. 

illustrious  with  which  mortals  were  ever  honored,  his 
name  is  justly  inscribed  with  eternal  execrations.  But 
•what  was  the  most  prominent  feature  in  this  most  execra- 
ble character?  It  was  that  of  urging  his  attention  to 
money  up  to  the  full  limit  of  what  was  lawful,  till,  becoming 
no  longer  able  to  endure  such  restraints,  it  broke  out  into 
the  most  fearful  forms  of  infamy  and  wo. 

Judas  had  nothing  to  allege  against  his  Master,  and 
never  betrayed  towards  him,  apart  from  the  influence  o 
his  avarice,  any  other  than  feehngs  of  personal  affection, 
respect,  and  veneration.  And  that  he  did  most  sincerely 
cherish  these  feelings  is  evinced  by  his  confession  to  the 
chief  priests  that  he  had  *  betrayed  innocent  blood  ;'  and 
still  more  by  those  paroxysms  of  remorse  which  hurried 
him  to  a  voluntary  and  violent  death.  These  are  not  the 
fruits  of  a  revengeful  spirit,  or  of  knowing  that  an  enemy 
has  fallen  by  our  means ;  but  of  the  consciousness  of 
having  wantonly  violated  the  most  tender  ties  of  friend- 
ship, and  of  having  abused  the  most  paternal  and  affec. 
tionate  patronage.  No  ;  but  for  his  exorbitant  love  of 
money,  however  blind  Judas  might  have  been  to 
the  spiritual  glories  of  our  Saviour's  character,  he 
would  doubtless  have  continued,  in  outward  conduct,  as 
true  to  his  Master  as  Peter  or  John.  From  all  the  cir- 
cumstances, there  is  no  doubt  that  he  was  disappointed  at 
the  result  of  his  treachery,  having  no  idea  when  he  took 
the  silver,  that  it  would  be  attended  by  consequences  so 
fatal  to  his  Master.  From  the  numerous  displays  which 
he  had  witnessed  of  our  Saviour's  transcendent  powers  of 
surpassing  eloquence,  he  had  no  doubt  that  delivering 


AVARICE    HIS   PREDOMINENT   PASSION.  241 

Him  into  the  hands  of  his  enemies,  would  only  afford  an- 
other  opportunity  for  the  triumph  of  his  superior  good- 
ness.  It  is  possible,  also,  that  he  might  have  thought, 
that,  by  doing  good  to  the  poor  with  the  money  which  he 
should  thus  obtain,  and  by  future  confession,  he  might  so 
far  win  upon  the  forgiving  heart  of  his  Master,  as  to  be 
again  fully  reinstated  in  his  confidence. 

That  avarice,  cloaked  under  some  such  glossy  pretext, 
was  the  predominant  motive  with  Judas  in  betraying  his 
Master,  appears — from  his  remarks  in  reference  to  the 
waste  made  of  the  ointment  with  which  the  woman  anointed 
our  Lord — from  the  question  proposed  to  the  chief  priests 
when  he  went  to  propose  his  traitorous  services — and 
tl[\e  feelings  of  loathing  and  disgust  towards  the  price  of 
his  crime,  which  were  awakened  by  his  subsequent 
remorse. 

The  pious  desire  to  avoid  a  useless  waste  of  the  means 
of  charity,  which  is  indicated  by  the  question  in  relation 
to  the  conduct  of  the  woman.  Why  was  not  this  ointment 
sold  for  three  hundred  pence,  and  given  to  the  poor  ?  was 
a  mere  feint  to  hide  his  sordid  propensity.  For  this  he 
said,  not  that  he  cared  for  the  poor ;  but  because  he  was  a 
thief,  and  had  the  bag,  and  bare  what  was  put  therein.* 
It  was,  perhaps,  from  observing  his  habits  of  careful  and 
constant  attention  to  money,  that  our  Saviour  made  him 
the  purser  of  his  little  company.  He  carried  the  bag, 
and  was  probably  addicted  to  petty  thefts  from  its  golden 
contents,  which  accounts  for  his  being  called  a  thief. 

*  John  xii.  3—6. 
21 


242  CAUSE  OF    SIN    AN   UNIVERSAL 

These  little  offences,  however  they  may  have  been  dispo- 
sed of  by  our  Lord,  show  that  the  habit  of  his  mind  was 
avaricious,  acting  upon  every  thing  that  approached  it  in 
the  shape  of  money  like  a  magnet  upon  iron,  drawing  it 
to  himself,  whether  his  or  not ;  and  hence,  they  go  to 
confirm  the  opinion  that  the  sole  inducement  for  the  com- 
mission of  his  sealing  crime,  was  the  charm  to  his  feelings 
of  the  thirty  pieces  of  silver. 

The  question  also  proposed  to  the  chief  priests,  what 
will  ye  give  me,  and  I  will  betray  him  unto  you?  still  fur- 
ther establishes  the  same  sentiment.  His  treachery  was 
purely  a  pecuniary  transaction,  resulting  rather  from  a 
desire  to  make  money,  than  from  any  direct  purpose  of 
mischief.  Hence,  no  sooner  was  the  price  set  at  thirty 
pieces  of  silver,  than  he  struck  the  bargain,  lest  delay 
should  subject  him  to  still  more  unfavorable  terms.  And 
from  that  moment  he  waited  only  for  an  opportunity  to 
accomplish  his  dark  design. 

And  what  adds  still  further  confirmation  to  the  same 
view,  is  the  disgust  and  loathing  with  which  he  regarded 
the  thirty  pieces  of  silver,  when  he  began  to  feel  the  guilt 
of  his  crime.  His  first  act  of  repentance,  after  confessing 
his  fault,  was  to  cast  them  down  in  the  temple,  and  thus, 
to  unburden  himself  of  an  object  which  had  involved  him 
in  such  deep  guilt  and  misery.  What  could  have  produ- 
ced this  loathing  of  the  silver,  but  the  consciousness  that, 
it  had  been  the  principal  lure  to  his  treachery  ?  Who  does 
not  know  that  the  bait  to  criminality,  always  becomes  to 
^he  criminal,  in  the  paroxysms  of  his  remorse,  an  object 
of  the  most  abhorrent  recollections  ?    Hence,  the  feelings 


ELEMENT   OF   CHARACTEK,  243 

of  Judas  towards  the  thirty  pieces  of  silver,  added  to  the 
other  circumstances  of  the  case,  I  think  leave  no  room  to 
doubt  that  avarice  was  the  predominant  motive  of  his 
treachery. 

Thus,  the  purest,  most  perfect,  and  most  glorious  char- 
acter  that  ever  appeared  upon  this  footstool,  is  made  mer- 
chandise of  for  gold,  not  by  Judas  alone,  whose  case  was 
but  the  outbreaking  of  a  universal  element  of  human  na- 
ture, but  by  all  who  sacrifice  conscience  to  a  desire  of 
accumulation.  And,  if  the  Son  of  God  was  made  an  ob- 
ject  of  barter,  to  gratify  the  avarice  of  one  of  his  twelve 
personal  followers,  it  becomes  a  question  whether,  with 
the  proportion  of  a  twelfth  of  his  professed  followers  in 
succeeding  ages,  he  has  not  shared  a  similar  fate.  Be- 
hold how  great  a  matter  a  little  fire  kindleth  !  In  what 
a  world  of  infamy — in  what  an  eternity  of  despair — did 
this  one  lawless  passion  of  Judas  involve  him !  It  has 
written  upon  his  name  in  characters  never  to  be  effaced, 

THE  TRAITOR  tO  God's  SoN,  AND  MAn's  ONLY  FRIEND.      O, 

what  a  comment  upon  a  spirit  greedy  of  the  world,  does 
the  history  of  Judas  present ! 

Among  the  excuses  which  our  Saviour  sums  up  for 
neglecting  the  gospel-supper,  there  is  none  which 
is  not  intimately  connected  with  the  love  of  riches,  or 
directly  consequent  upon  it.  The  first  who  was  bidden 
said,  I  have  bought  a  piece  of  ground,  and  I  must  needs 
go  and  see  it ;  the  second,  I  have  bought  five  yoke  of  oxen, 
and  I  go  to  prove  them  ;  the  third,  I  have  married  a  wife 
— I  must  needs  provide  for  her,  and  therefore  I  cannot 
come.     And,  as  he  who  had  made  the  supper  found  that 


244        LOVE    OF    WEALTH    KEEPS   MEN    FROM   CHRIST. 

there  was  little  hope  from  those  who  were  under  tempta^ 
tions  of  this  kind,  he  commanded  the  poor,  the  maimed,  the 
halt,  the  blind,  and  all  whose  hearts  were  stricken  with  sor- 
row, to  be  called,  that  his  house  might  be  filled  with  guests.* 
And,  that  not  many  wise  men  after  the  flesh — not  many- 
mighty — not  many  noble — are  called,  is  a  sentiment  that 
accords  with  the  experience  of  the  church  in  every  age.f 
In  relation  to  the  young  man  who  went  away  sorrow- 
ful upon  hearing  the  terms  of  entering  into  life,  our  Saviour 
exclaims,  Children,  how  hard  is  it  for  them  that  trust  in 
riches  to  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God.:]:  It  will  be  seen 
from  this,  that  the  sin  which  obstructs  the  passages  of  life, 
is  not  that  of  being  rich,  but  of  trusting  in  riches,  or  nour- 
ishing with  them  a  frigid  selfishness,  instead  of  making 
them  subservient  to  the  greatest  good  of  mankind.  When 
dispersed  abroad  in  acts  of  mercy,  their  blessings  will  en- 
dure forever.  All,  therefore,  which  the  Scriptures  dis- 
countenance, is  an  exclusive  self-love  in  the  use  of  money ; 
or  plans  of  acquiring  vigorously  prosecuted,  as  disconnect- 
ed from  plans  of  doing  good  with  what  we  acquire.  To 
pursue  such  a  course,  is  as  if  a  lake  were  endowed  with 
intelligence,  and  seized  with  the  passion  of  accumulation, 
should  absorb  the  moisture  for  hundreds  of  miles  around, 
and  refuse  to  let  a  particle  escape  from  its  own  reservoir, 
to  fertilize  the  soil,  or  quench  the  parched  thirst  of  the  ani- 
mal creation.  Water  diffused  abroad  in  reeking  moisture, 
is  prolific  with  life,  beauty,  and  abundance,  but  pent  up 
within  the  confines  of  an  avaricious  lake,  it  leaves  the 

*  Luke  xiv.  16—20.       1 1  Cor.  i.  26.       t  Mark  x.  23—25. 


AVARICIOUS    LAKE — ATMOSPHERE    OF    HEAVEN.        245 

neighboring  landscape  an  arid  waste,  to  famish  for  want 
of  its  accustonaed  nourishment.  Thus,  a  grasping  pro- 
pensity arrogates  to  itself  to  its  own  hurt,  the  means  of 
comfort,  virtue,  and  salvation  to  perishing  multitudes. 
How,  therefore,  should  it  fail  of  excluding  those  who 
cherish  it,  from  the  blessings  of  a  religion  whose  primary 
element  is  benevolence  ? 

The  atmosphere  of  heaven  is  too  exhilarating  for  the 
lungs  of  sordid  avarice.  It  could  not  breathe  it  without 
convulsions.  The  miser  would  find  his  worst  hell  in  a 
world  where  he  should  hear  of  nothing  but  plans  of  labor 
and  expenditure  for  the  good  of  others.  Oh,  reader,  when 
our  exclusive  feelings  are  brought  up  to  the  exalted 
standard  of  virtue  which  prevails  in  heaven,  how  earthly, 
how  infernal  do  they  appear  !  We  cannot  come  under 
the  most  distant  influences  of  the  celestial  city  till  these 
feelings  give  way,  and  money  acquired,  or  the  means  of  ac- 
quiring it,  come  to  be  regarded  as  the  handmaids  of  mer- 
cy's cause.  For  him,  therefore,  that  trusteth  in  riches  to 
enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God,  does  indeed  appear  like 
the  impossibility  in  nature  of  a  camel's  going  through  the 
eye  of  a  needle. 

Connected  with  the  tendency  of  this  sordid  passion  to 
shut  the  gates  of  life,  are  many  forms  of  reprobation  ia 
which  it  is  represented  in  the  Scriptures. 

That  feeling  so  common  to  our  nature,  of  self-compla* 
cency  and  luxurious  ease  which  increasing  riches  breed, 
is  the  source  to  which  they  trace  the  reproach  and  ex- 
tinction of  the  kingdom  of  the  Ten  Tribes.  Ephraim 
said,  Yet  I  am  become  rich — I  have  found  me  out  sub- 
21* 


246  epheaim's  sin — job's  imprecation. 

stance — in  all  my  labors  they  shall  find  none  iniquity  in 
me  that  were  sin.  Ephraim  provoked  him  to  anger  most 
bitterly — therefore  shall  he  leave  his  blood  upon  him, 
and  his  reproach  shall  his  Lord  return  unto  him.*  Thus, 
lulled  into  security,  and  rioting  in  his  exclusive  right  to 
the  fruits  of  a  fat  land,  he  opened  upon  himself  the  flood- 
gates of  utter  desolation.  And  neither  science,  research, 
nor  history,  has  been  able  to  find  the  place  of  his  sepul- 
ture. 

And  so  deeply  criminal  did  Job  esteem  that  joy  and 
confidence  in  wealth,  which  steels  the  heart  against  the 
plaintive  tones  of  sorrow  and  destitution,  that  if  he  had 
been  thus  aflfected  by  his  former  prosperity,  he  impre- 
cates on  himself  the  most  signal  vengeance.  If  I  have 
made  gold  my  hope,  or  have  said  to  the  most  fine  gold, 
Thou  art  my  confidence  ;  if  I  have  rejoiced  because  my 
wealth  was  great,  and  because  mine  hands  had  gotten  me 
much  ;  if  I  have  withheld  the  poor  from  his  desire,  or  have 
caused  the  eyes  of  the  widow  to  fail,  or  have  eaten 
my  morsel  alone,  and  the  fatherless  hath  not  eaten 
thereof;  if  I  have  seen  any  perish  for  want  of  clothing,  or 
any  poor  without  covering ;  if  his  loins  have  not  blessed 
me,  and  if  he  were  not  warmed  with  the  fleece  of  my 
sheep,  then  let  my  arm  fall  from  my  shoulder  hlade^  and 
mine  arm  he  hroken  from  the  hone.^  The  loathsome  dis- 
ease and  abject  poverty,  which  came  upon  him  all  at  once 
like  a  torrent  of  desolation,  he  confessed  would  be  even 
less  than  his  demerit,  if  he  could  be  charged  with  disre- 

♦  Hofl«a  xii.  8—14.  t  Job  xxxi. 


LANGUAGE    OF    THE    PSALMS.  247 

garding  the  claims  of  humanity  in  the  use  of  his  lost 
abundance.  If  the  demerit  of  a  sin,  therefore,  is  any  cri- 
terion of  its  turpitude,  what  can  be  more  appalling  than 
this? 

Also,  the  recklessness  of  God,  and  confidence  in  wick- 
edness, which  riches  sometimes  induce,  by  reason  of  the 
ability  which  they  afford  of  doing  wickedly  without  dan- 
ger from  the  laws,  are  assigned  as  the  cause  of  extermi- 
nation to  the  wicked  in  the  following  passage.  God  shall 
destroy  thee  forever ;  he  shall  take  thee  away,  and  pluck 
thee  out  of  thy  dwelling-place,  and  root  thee  out  of  the  land 
of  the  living.  The  righteous  shall  see  and  fear,  and  shall 
laugh  at  him.  Lo,  this  is  the  man  that  made  not  God  his 
strength,  but  trusted  in  the  abundance  of  his  riches,  and 
strengthened  himself  in  his  wickedness.*  The  sentiment 
which  the  righteous  are  here  represented  as  applying  to 
those  who  abuse  the  earthly  gifts  of  God,  is  applicable  to 
every  case  in  which  they  are  used  without  regard  to  the 
claims  of  beneficence.  For,  in  all  such  cases,  there  is 
either  a  want  of  confidence  in  God,  as  betrayed  in  the 
fear  of  doing  good  with  our  money,  lest  we  come  to  want ; 
or  such  an  undue  passion  for  wealth,  as  gives  us  pain  to 
expend  any  of  it,  except  upon  our  own  interests  ;  or  a  de- 
sire to  avail  ourselves  of  it  to  purchase  the  trappings  of 
pride,  the  toys  of  vanity,  to  enable  us  to  climb  the  steeps 
of  ambition,  or  to  feed  the  unrestrained  fires  of  more  sen- 
sual and  degrading  passions.  A  system  of  exclusive  ex- 
penditure was  never  yet  adopted,  when  it  did  not  result 

*  Ps.  liL  5-7. 


248     MOTIVES  FOR  EXCLUSIVE  USE  OF  MONEY. 

from  the  separate  force  of  one,  or  combined  force  of  all 
these  motives.  And  we  may  add,  it  never  failed  to  be 
followed,  sooner  or  later,  in  one  way  or  another,  by  con- 
sequences which  led  the  observer,  who  was  in  the 
habit  of  weighing  actions  with  their  results,  in  order 
to  warn  or  be  warned,  to  exclaim,  Lo,  such  is  the  effect 
of  trusting  in  money  rather  than  in  God  ;  of  making  it  an 
instrument  of  evil  rather  than  of  good.  The  facts  of  real 
life  pour  a  flood  of  light  upon  this  page  in  God's  book,  and 
call  upon  the  world  in  accents  scarcely  less  forcible,  to 
trust  not  in  oppression — to  become  not  vain  in  robbery 
— and  if  riches  increase,  to  set  not  our  hearts  upon  them.* 
Their  admonitions  are  written  as  with  letters  of  embossed 
adamant,  which  neither  time  nor  sophistry  can  erase. 
These  facts  show  as  clearly  as  the  Bible  itself,  that  a  wo 
rests  upon  him  that  coveteth  an  evil  covetousness  to  his 
house,  that  he  may  set  his  nest  on  high,  and  be  delivered 
from  the  power  of  evil.  When  he  imagines  that  his 
shrewd  plans  of  acquiring  or  keeping,  have  so  far  succeed- 
ed as  to  place  him  above  want,  he  shall  find  that  he  has 
only  been  consulting  shame  to  himself  by  disregarding 
the  claims  of  many  people,  and  has  sinned  against  his  own 
best  interests.  For  the  stone  shall  cry  out  of  the  wall^ 
and  the  beam  out  of  the  timber  shall  answer  it.f  Every 
stone  and  piece  of  timber  in  the  house  which  thou  shalt 
build  with  money  obtained  by  fraud,  or  kept  back  at  the 
expense  of  charity  ;  every  tree  that  adorns  thy  garden 
and  shades  thy  walk  at  noon  ;  every  feather  in  thy  downy 

♦  ?$.  Ixii.  10.   .  .    t  Habak.   ii.  10—12. 


HAUNTED    DWELLINGS   OF    WEALTH.  249 

piliow ;  every  article  of  luxury  about  thy  person  will, 
}.n  the  end,  become  a  spectre  to  torture  thy  waking 
Shoughts,  and  alarm  thy  midnight  dreams.  Each  shall 
proclaim  to  the  other  thy  guilt ;  devils  shall  join  in  the 
chorus  ^  while  thy  conscience  will  add  its  cruel  remon- 
strances, to  convert  all  this  scene  of  beauty,  which  thy 
wealth  shall  spread  out  before  thee,  into  an  aspect  more 
dismal  than  the  shades  of  death.  Though  rich  and  in- 
creased in  goods,  a  feeling  of  want  shall  prey  upon  thy 
inmost  soul,  worse  than  earthly  poverty  ever  engendered. 
Thy  sterile  nature  shall  be  like  the  heath  of  the  desert, 
not  knowing  when  good  cometh,  because  thou  hast  cove- 
tously heaped  up  to  thyself  the  means  of  good  to  others.* 
But  we  will  wind  up  this  catalogue  of  maledictions 
with  that  solemn  denunciation  of  the  Almighty  against 
his  ancient  people,  after  showing  them  that  instead  of 
burnt-offerings  and  calves  of  a  year  old,  he  required 
that  they  should  do  justly,  love  mercy,  and  walk  humbly 
with  God.  For  the  rich  men  of  the  city  are  full  of 
violence,  and  the  inhabitants  thereof  have  spoken  lies, 
and  their  tongue  is  deceitful  in  their  mouth.  Therefore, 
also,  will  I  make  thee  sick  in  smiting  thee,  in  making  thee 
desolate  because  of  thy  sins.  Thou  shalt  eat,  but  not  be 
satisfied ;  and  thy  casting  down  shall  be  in  the  midst  of 
thee  ;  and  thou  shalt  take  hold,  but  shalt  not  deliver ;  and 
that  which  thou  deliverest  will  I  give  up  to  the  sword. 
Thou  shalt  sow,  but  shalt  not  reap  ;  thou  shalt  tread  the 
olives,  but  not  anoint  thee  with  oil ;  and  sweet  wine, 
but  shalt  not  drink  wine.f 

*  Jer.  xvil  1—6.  *  Micah  vi. 


250  EVIDENCE  OF  NATURE  AND  REVELATION. 

Hence,  while  the  religion,  whose  progress  is  traced  la 
the  Scriptures,  was  uniformly  developed  in  connection 
with  the  gratuitous  expenditure  of  money,  in  amounts 
proportioned  to  the  degree  of  hold  which  it  had  taken 
upon  the  character,  it  denounces  in  varied  terms  of  un- 
measured severity,  not  only  the  lawless  means  of  acquir- 
ing, but  the  devoting  to  ourselves  exclusively  of  what  is 
honorably  gained.  These  facts,  I  leave  to  the  candid  re- 
flection of  my  reader,  as  adding  another  link  in  the  chain 
of  evidence  which  God  has  spread  out  before  you,  both 
in  the  natural  and  revealed  economy,  to  establish  the 
principle,  that  money  cannot  be  used  or  pursued  as  it 
ought  to  be,  except  reference  be  had  to  the  gratuitous 
expenditure  of  a  liberal  proportion  of  it,  to  diminish  th& 
miseries,  and  increase  the  knowledge,  virtue,  and  kappk 
ness  of  the  human  familv. 


CHAPTER   XVI. 


Explicit  Enactments. 

The  bearing  of  revealed  religion  upon  this  point 
is  not  merely  inferential  and  oblique  ;  but  it  comes 
down  upon  us  with  all  the  fullness  and  solemnity  of  di- 
rect law.  Unlike  some  other  duties,  the  one  we  advocate 
has  concentrated  upon  it  the  united  force  of  the  Mosaic 
and  Christian  institutions.  Indeed,  it  is  not  to  be  supposed 
that  He  who  established  the  relations  between  man  and 
man,  who  placed  them  in  a  condition  of  mutual  depen- 
dance,  and  who  creates  in  one  portion  a  need  which  he 
has  given  the  other  the  means  of  supplying,  would  frame 
into  words  a  system  of  laws,  which  should  have  no  refe- 
rence to  these  obvious  features  in  the  economy  of  human 
nature.  The  'absence  of  so  material  an  item  in  the  re- 
vealed system,  would  bring  its  divine  origin  under  suspi- 
cion, by  breaking  up  its  harmony  with  the  real  world. 
Not  to  enact  what  is  necessary,  would  be  as  material  a 
defect  as  to  enact  what  is  impossible  ;  and  a  code  of  lawa 
professing  to  come  from  God,  that  should  require  us  to 
liye  in  fire  ox  water,  would  not  have  imposture  written 


252     HARMONY  OF  RELIGION  WITH  THE  REAL  WORLD. 

upon  it  in  bolder  characters,  than  one  that  should  not  en- 
join an  efficient  mercy  and  beneficence.  The  glory  of 
revealed  religion  consists  in  its  adaptation  to  the  charac- 
ter and  condition  of  the  beings  to  whom  it  is  given. 

Moreover,  bow  is  it  to  be  supposed  that  a  God  who 
practises  to  all  a  liberality  so  free,  appropriate,  and  abun- 
dant, should  give  laws  to  beings  capable  of  a  like  libera- 
lity in  their  measure  and  degree,  and  yet  omit  the  incul- 
cation of  it  as  a  duty  upon  them  ?  And  if  he  inculcate  i^ 
at  all,  how  it  is  possible  that  he  should  have  omitted  to 
require  the  habitual  and  constant  performance  of  the  duty 
since  such  is  his  manner  of  doing  good  to  us  ?  Consider- 
ations like  these  prepare  us  to  expect  from  the  Bible,  as 
a  record  of  God's  revealed  laws,  not  merely  oblique  allu- 
sions to  the  practice  of  beneficence,  but  express  precepts 
and  authoritative  sanctions  to  rivet  upon  the  conscience 
the  obligations  of  this  duty. 

And  what  we  have  a  right  to  expect  we  find,  spread 
out  through  all  the  inspired  pages.  Such  precepts  even  in 
the  law  of  Moses,  that  "  ministration  of  condemnation/* 
are  often  repeated,  on  the  principle  that  the  greater  resist- 
ance must  be  met  by  the  greater  force;  because  the 
duty  they  enjoin  has  to  encounter  the  strength  of  a  frigid, 
exclusive,  and  unbounded  self-love.  The  tenor  of  these 
precepts  is,  If  there  be  among  you  a  poor  man  of  thy 
brethren  within  thy  gates  in  the  land  which  the  Lord  thy 
God  giveth  thee,  thou  shalt  not  harden  thine  heart,  nor 
shut  thy  hand  from  thy  poor  brother.  But  thou  shalt 
open  thine  hand  wide  unto  him,  and  shalt  surely  lend  him 
sufficient  for  his  need,  in  that  which  he  wanteth.    Thou 


SYMPATHY  NECESSARY.  253 

shah  surely  give  him,  and  thy  heart  shall  not  be  grieved 
when  thou  givestunto  him.  For  the  poor  shall  never  cease 
out  of  the  land  ;  therefore  I  command  thee,  saying,  Thou 
shall  open  thy  hand  wide  unto  thy  brother,  to  thy  poor,  and 
to  thy  needy  in  thy  land.*  This  passage  has  reference  to 
gratuities  over  and  above  the  annual  tithe  which  was  de- 
manded  of  the  nation  for  the  various  objects  of  their 
faith  and  worship.  It  bears  directly  upon  the  condition 
of  destitution  in  which  God  had  determined  ever  to  leave 
a  portion  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  land,  in  order  to 
open  channels  for  the  surplus  abundance  of  the  rich,  and 
to  keep  up  a  healthy  circulation  of  the  benevolent  sym- 
pathies. As  suffering  is  said  to  be  necessary  to  the  per- 
fection of  the  human  character,!  so  is  an  active  sympa- 
thy in  suffering,  to  a  healthy  tone  of  moral  feeling. 
Where  no  such  sympathies  exist  the  feelings  collapse 
upon  self,  or  break  out  into  channels  of  riot  and  licen- 
tiousness. Human  life  being  thrown  in  <  between  a  smile 
and  a  tear,'  requires  to  have  its  thoughts,  affections, 
labors  and  expenditures,  duly  balanced  between  those 
scenes  which  produce  the  one  and  the  other,  in  order  to 
suit  them  to  the  actual  condition  of  the  world.  Hence, 
if  we  have  no  trouble  pressing  hard  upon  ourselves,  we 
ought  to  take  an  interest  in  those  that  have  ;  and  the  de- 
termination never  to  let  the  poor  cease  out  of  the  land  is 
no  less  necessary  to  the  perfection  of  our  character,  than 

*  Deut.  XV.  7—11. 

t  A  doctrine  of  Spurzheim,  which  has  the  merit  of  being  founded 
in  nature,  whatever  may  be  aaid  of  his  philosophy  of  the  human 
>jain. 

23 


254  VEEBAL  SANCTION  TO  THE 

the  command  to  contribute  is  to  their  alleviation.  It 
is  thus  that  we  learn  to  reef  the  sails  by  means  of  which 
the  gales  of  prosperity  would  otherwise  overturn  and 
bury  us  in  ruin.  Let  us,  therefore,  consider  the  call  to 
beneficence,  which  proceeded  from  the  midst  of  thunder- 
ing, lightning,  and  tempest,  as  no  less  necessary  or  appli- 
cable to  us,  than  to  the  people  upon  whose  ear  its  awful 
accents  directly  fell. 

The  same  call  is  in  fact  reiterated  under  His  sanction, 
who  came  not  to  destroy  the  law  or  the  prophets,  but  to 
fulfil.  Charge  them  that  are  rich  in  this  world,  that  they 
be  not  high-minded,  nor  trust  in  uncertain  riches,  but  in 
the  living  God,  who  giveth  us  richly  all  things  to  enjoy ; 
that  they  do  good,  that  they  be  rich  in  good  works  ;  ready 
to  distribute,  willing  to  communicate.*  To  this  charge 
the  seal  of  inspiralion  is  affixed,  and  of  course  the  pre- 
cept which  it  requires  to  be  urged,  contains  all  the 
force  of  law,  yea,  of  law  emanating  from  Him  by  whom 
kings  reign  and  princes  decree  justice.  The  purport  of 
the  precept  is  that  riches,  instead  of  being  used  as  the  means 
of  luxury  and  aggrandizement,  or  confided  in  as  a  source 
of  permanent  enjoyment,  as  they  too  often  are,  should  bo 
distributed  among  the  needy,  that  thus,  like  money  in- 
vested, or  seed  sown  in  a  fertile  soil,  they  may  advance 
and  multiply  by  increasing  the  aggregate  of  human  hap- 
piness. And  this  is  a  law  for  all  ages,  and  not  merely  for 
the  one  in  which  it  was  put  into  words,  for  all  people,  as 
well  as  those  to  whom  Timothy  was  required  to  dispense 

*  1  Tim.  Ti.  17,  18. 


LAWS  OF  NATURE.  255 

it.  It  comes  in  as  a  verbal  sanction  from  the  lips  of  God, 
to  those  laws  which  we  have  before  noticed  as  having 
been  wrought  into  the  texture  of  the  natural  and  social 
system.  Let  every  one,  therefore,  who  has  riches  or  the 
means  of  acquiring  them,  know  that  God  will  hold  him 
responsible  for  such  an  exercise  of  his  stewardship,  as 
will  contribute  to  the  greatest  physical,  intellectual,  and 
moral  good  of  the  world. 

To  do  good  and  communicate,  therefore,  he  must  not 
forget ;  for  with  such  sacrifices  God  is  well  pleased.* 
Nor  is  it  possible  for  God  to  be  pleased  with  any  plans  of  ap- 
propriating our  worldly  substance  which  make  no  provision 
for  doing  good,  since  to  communicate  and  to  do  good,  is  the 
grand  motto  under  which  the  Divinity  himself  conducts 
his  vast  plans  of  empire.  He  was  happy  in  himself,  and 
might  have  so  remained,  if  no  saint  or  angel  in  bliss  had 
ever  tuned  a  harp  to  his  praise.  His  happiness  is  an 
ocean  without  a  bottom  or  a  shore,  incapable  of  increase 
or  diminution  ;  still  it  is  his  delight  to  pour  it  out  through 
innumerable  streams,  that  others  may  partake,  and  being 
filled  with  his  fullness,  may  rejoice  with  joy  unspeakable 
and  full  of  glory. 

The  apostle  also  associates  with  other  duties  that  of 
distributing  to  the  necessities  of  saints,  and  being  given  to 
hospitality,  t  '  That  is,  in  respect  to  the  wants  of  saints  be 
communicative,  be  ready  to  impart,  be  liberal,  be  free  to 
give. 'J  Here  again  we  have  the  force  of  direct  law  to 
bind  us  to  the  exercise  of  beneficence  in  the  use  of  money. 

♦  Heb.  xiii.  16.       t  Rom.  xii,  13,        *  Stuart  on  this  passage. 


256  INDISCRIMINATE  BENEFICENCE. 

And  we  are  commanded  not  only  to  be  liberal  to  the 
saints,  but  if  an  enemy  hunger,  to  feed  him — if  he  thirst, 
to  give  him  drink.*  The  above  precepts  united  bind  us 
to  a  course  of  indiscriminate  beneficence  ;  to  require  no 
other  quality  in  the  object  of  our  benefactions  than  that 
of  destitution,  intellectual,  moral,  or  physical ;  to  scatter 
them  alike  among  friends  and  foes,  and  thus  to  rise  nobly 
and  sublimely  above  all  the  narrow  interests  and  colli- 
sions of  this  life,  in  the  manner  of  great  Heaven,  who 
throws  the  blessings  of  this  world  from  his  hand,  leaving 
them  to  fall  indiscriminately  upon  his  friends  and  his  ene- 
mies.t  Our  benefactions  should  proceed  upon  the  prin- 
ciple, that  every  man  is  a  creature  of  God,  to  whom  hap- 
piness is  as  dear  as  to  others ;  every  one  equally  with 
ourselves  is  a  member  of  the  human  fraternity  ;  every 
one  yet  alive,  we  have  a  right  to  presume,  is  within  the 
precincts  of  mercy,  and  as  God  is  doing  him  good  in  many 
ways,  we  may  venture  to  do  so  too  ;  and  every  man  is 
in  a  condition  sufficiently  hopeful  to  justify  us  in  labor- 
ing, praying,  and  sacrificing  money  to  promote  his  pre- 
sent good  and  future  salvation.  Hence,  we  are  to  do 
good  un4o  all,t  and  in  the  use  of  worldly  substance  exer- 
cise an  indiscriminate  beneficence. 

The  practice  of  bestosving  pious  gratuities,  in  the  use 
of  property,  holds  a  place  among  the  virtues  so  prominent 
and  commanding,  that  a  heart  and  character  properly 
attuned  to  its  exercise,  can  hardly  fail  of  being  right  in 
other  respects.     Hence,  when  our  Saviour  commanded 

♦  Rom.  xii.  20.        t  Matt.  v.  45.        t  Gal.  y'\.  10. 


GIVING    ALMS NOTHING    UNCLEAN.  257 

the  Pharisees,  who  were  over-scrupulous  in  regard  to  eat- 
ing with  unwashed  hands,  to  give  alms  of  such  things  as 
they  had,  he  adds  this  as  the  consequence,  that  nothing 
would  be  unclean  to  them,*  A  life  spent  in  scattering 
abroad  the  means  of  alleviation  to  pain,  of  removing 
ignorance,  correcting  vice,  and  of  multiplying  enjoyment, 
or  in  pouring  the  beams  of  immortal  hope  upon  the  darkness 
of  human  life,  has  little  to  apprehend  in  regard  to  its  final 
acceptance.  Let  this,  therefore,  be  our  concern,  rather 
than  that  of  being  exact  in  our  creed,  or  precise  in  our 
rituals. 

Oh,  had  those  talents,  riches,  years,  labors,  and  vari- 
ous  resources  which  the  church  has  exhausted  upon  the- 
oretical debate,  useless  discussion,  hypercritical  acumen, 
nice  points  of  ceremony,  and  angry  contention,  been 
directed  to  the  substantial  object  of  remedying  evils  in  the 
condition  of  the  world,  and  raising  man  m  the  scale  of 
virtue,  knowledge,  and  holiness,  who  can  calculate  the 
mighty  result  ?  The  kingdoms  of  this  world  might  ere  this 
have  become  the  kingdoms  of  our  Lord  and  of  his  Christ. 

Every  man,  therefore,  according  as  he  purposes  in  his 
heart,  so  let  him  give,  not  grudgingly,  or  of  necessity — 
for  God  loveth  a  cheerful  giver ;  yea,  he  that  giveth, 
let  him  do  it  with  simplicity  or  liberality  ;  he  that  showeth 
mercy,  with  cheerfulness. f  The  principle  from  which 
deeds  of  mercy  flow,  once  established  in  the  heart,  should 
not  be  choked  by  the  selfish  passions,  but  should  be 
allowed  play  and  scope,  that  its  streams,  instead  of  becom- 
ing less,  may  increase  with  the  increasing  means  of  filling 

♦  Luke  xi.  41.  +  2  Cor.  Lx.  7.    Rom.  xii.  8. 

2i* 


258  CONTRIBUTIONS    DIMINISHED 

their  channels.  Sometunes  the  amount  expended  in 
doinar  ffood  diminishes  in  the  inverse  ratio  of  the  actual 
increase  in  the  ability  to  do,  owing  to  the  energy  which 
counteracting  propensities  acquire  by  habits  of  indul- 
fjence.  And  the  man  of  ten  thousand  has  been  known  to 
bestow  less  upon  works  of  mercy,  than  he  did  when  he 
was  but  the  man  of  a  thousand.  It  seems  to  be  a  difficult 
acquisition  duly  to  apportion  the  amount  of  our  charities 
to  the  advance  of  our  means  ;  in  fact,  it  is  rarely  attempt- 
ed, and  so  there  is  no  proportion  at  all  between  them. 
While  the  increase  of  wealth  may  easily  be  detected  in 
the  additional  sumptuousness  of  the  equipage,  furniture, 
and  style  of  living,  it  is  rarely  to  be  discovered  from  the 
amount  of  a  man's  religious  gratuities.  But,  that  it  should 
be  so  is  not  less  a  violation  of  the  word  of  God,  than  it  is 
of  our  natural  sense  of  justice  and  propriety.  Having 
once  purposed  in  our  hearts  to  do  good  with  our  money, 
let  us  not  grudge  the  doing  of  it ;  but  as  our  means 
increase,  let  us  cheerfully  and  liberally  go  forward  in 
acting  upon  our  purpose  ;  for  God  being  himself  a  cheer- 
ful giver,  delights  in  those  who  are  so. 

In  connection  with  precepts  enjoining  pecuniary  gra- 
tuities, the  Scriptures  abound  in  inculcations  of  that  com- 
passion for  the  afflicted,  which,  legitimately  followed  up, 
would  lead  us  to  obey  these  precepts.  Put  on,  therefore, 
as  the  elect  of  God,  bowels  of  mercies,  kindness,  humble, 
nessofmind,  meekness,  long  suffering.*  To  feel  a  yearn- 
ing of  soul  over  the  miseries  of  the  world  like  what  the 

♦  Col.  iii.  12. 


WITH   INCREASING   ABILITY.  259 

mother  feels  over  the  cradle  of  her  sick  infant — to  cherish, 
such  a  degree  of  kindness  as  shall  not  tire  under  difficult3r 
and  discouragement,  any  more  than  He  tired  under  his 
labors,  whose  errand  to  man  was  only  one  of  mercy — to 
be  clothed  with  a  humility  so  deep  and  genuine,  that  cal- 
umny and  contempt  cannot  injure  us — and  to  have  a  com- 
plete command  over  all  our  irritable  feelings  under  circum- 
stances of  peculiar  provocation,  are  attainments  highly  or- 
namental to  the  chosen,  saintly,  and  beloved  sons  of  our 
Father  who  is  in  heaven. 

Nought  but  the  melting  accents  of  love  are  proper  to 
lips  employed  in  praising  love  so  infinite,  so  divine,  as 
that  which  interested  God  in  the  work  of  saving  us. 
Christianity  is  a  weeping  Genius,  and  receives  none  under 
the  wing  of  her  protection  who  cannot  mingle  tears  with 
her  own,  and  enter  with  a  feeling  heart  into  plans  for 
alleviating  sorrow  and  distress.  The  tears,  groans,  and 
blood,  which  attended  her  introduction  into  our  world, 
were  ominous  of  her  subsequent  character,  and  have 
taught  her  to  respond  to  the  pangs  of  tortured  hearts,  and 
to  bestow  peculiar  tokens  of  her  favor  upon  those  who 
feel  the  most  deeply  for  ruined  human  nature. — 
Scenes  of  suffering  attract  her  as  reeking  moisture  the 
warmth  of  the  sun-beam,  and  "  her  blessed  troop  of  minis- 
tering spirits  invite  the  child  of  sorrow  to  a  banquet," 


whose  bright  faces 


Cast  thousand  beams  upon  him  like  the  sun  ;"* 

thus  converting  the  darkness  around  him  into  a  flood  of 

*  Shakspeare. 


260  NO    EELIGION    SALUTARY 

light.     She  acts  upon  the  principle  that  to  him  that  fs 
afilicted  pity  should  be  shown.* 

And  as  affliction  is  the  common  lot  of  man,  no  religion 
would  be  adapted  to  our  condition,  that  did  not  come  with 
balm  for  our  woes.  And  no  religion  is  salutary  in  its 
influence,  that  does  not  lead  those  who  submit  to  its  sway, 
to  exercise  bowels  of  mercies  and  kindness.  Nor  are  our 
charities  to  be  confined  to  those  in  whose  sufferings  acquain- 
tance has  given  us  a  peculiar  interest;  for  we  are  command- 
ed to  be  not  forgetful  to  entertain  strangers,  since  some  have 
thus  had  their  hospitality  rewarded  by  entertaining  angels 
unawares.  Remember  them  that  are  in  bonds  as  bound 
with  them  ;  and  them  which  suffer  adversity,  as  being 
yourselves  also  in  the  body.f  Is  it  not  reasonable^that  a 
community  in  suffering  should  lead  to  a  community  of 
interest  in  alleviating  suffering?  If  there  are  those  whose 
situation  exempts  them  from  such  an  interest,  they  are 
the  inhabitants  of  heaven.  They  are  not  in  this  prison- 
house  of  clay,  exposed  to  all  the  ills  that  infest  mortality, 
but  breathe  a  purer  and  more  salubrious  atmosphere. 
Yet,  they  feel  for  sorrow-stricken  man — Christ  so  felt  as 
to  become  poor,  that  through  his  poverty  we  might  be 
rich.  Angels  so  feel  that  there  is  more  joy  in  heaven 
over  one  sinner  that  repenteth,  than  over  ninety  and  nine 
just  persons  that  need  no  repentance.  They  are  minis- 
tering spirits  also,  sent  forth  to  this  hospital  of  plagues,  to 
minister  to  them  that  shall  be  heirs  of  salvation.  And 
how  can  we,  the  common  sharers  in  this  lot  of  wo,  fail  to 

*  Job  vi.  14.  t  Heb.  xiii.  3. 


THAT   IS   NOT   MERCIFUL.  ^61 

sympathize  with  each  other,  rejoicing  with  them  that  do 
rejoice,  and  weeping  with  them  that  weep  ?* 

Nor  are  we  io  feel  alone,  but  so  to  feel  as  shall  put  us 
opon  the  track  of  substantial  alleviation.  My  little  chil- 
dren, let  us  not  love  in  word^  neither  in  tongue ;  but  in 
deed  and  in  truth,-\  Whoso  hath  this  world's  goods  and 
seeth  his  brother  have  need,  and  shutteth  up  his  bowels  of 
compassion  from  him,  how  dwelleth  the  love  of  God  in 
him  ?:j:  If  a  brother  or  sister  be  naked,  and  destitute  of 
daily  food,  and  one  of  you  say  unto  them.  Depart  in  peace, 
be  ye  warmed  and  filled  ;  notwithstanding  ye  give  them 
not  those  things  which  are  needful  to  the  body,  what  doth 
it  profit  ?1|  There  can  be  no  compassion  worthy  of  the 
name,  where  pecuniary  sacrifices  are  wholly  wanting. 
Tears,  prayers,  and  kind  wishes,  will  never  give  food  to 
the  hungry,  instruction  to  the  ignorant,  and  salvation  to 
the  lost.  Beneficence  must  consist  of  some  more  sub- 
stantial materials  to  render  it  efficacious.  Nor  is  that  a 
compassion  adapted  to  the  exigencies  of  human  nature, 
which  can  see  no  destitution  that  does  not  respect  the  body, 
when  the  soul,  with  its  exalted  and  undying  energies,  in 
more  than  six-eighths  of  the  human  race,  is  the  victim  of 
dangerous  and  damnable  errors,  of  polluting  vices,  and  of 
a  darkness  that  may  be  felt.  The  throes  of  physical 
pain  are  inefficacious  in  their  real  tendency  to  produce 
sympathy,  compared  with  the  more  keen  and  undying 
pangs  of  a  soul  that  is  ruined  by  sin.  "  Anguish  of  mind," 
says  an  observing  writer,  "  has  driven  thousands  to  sui- 

♦  Rom,  xiL15.    t  IJohn  iv.  IS.    $Johniv.l7.    llJas- u,  15,  16.    J 


262  DESTITUTION   DEMANDING   RELIEF. 

cide;  anguish  of  body  none.  This  proves  that  the 
health  of  the  mind  is  of  far  greater  consequence  than  the 
health  of  the  body,  although  both  of  them  are  deserving  of 
much  more  attention  than  either  receives."  The  force  of 
the  foregoing  precepts,  therefore,  which  are  too  plain  to 
be  misapprehended,  falls  unabated  upon  all  kinds  of  suf- 
fering and  destitution,  making  it  a  duty,  not  to  be  resisted 
without  incurring  the  guilt  of  openly  opposing  God,  to 
labor,  to  pray,  and  to  sacrifice  money  for  the  general 
alleviation  of  the  woes  of  ignorant,  polluted,  and  suffering 
human  nature* 


CHAPTER    XVII 


Scripture  motives  to  beneficence — promises  of  temporal  reward-^- 
history  of  B . 

The  motives  by  which  the  scripture  surge  a  pious  and 
benevolent  use  of  money  upon  the  conscience  and  the 
heart  require  to  be  noticed.  Among  the  more  promi- 
nent, which  are  all  that  fall  within  the  scope  of  our  de- 
sign, are  promises  of  temporal  reward — high  terms  of  com- 
mendation  upon  an  efficient  liter ality — -strong  representa- 
tions of  the  turpitude  and  demerit  of  illiberality — and  the 
favorable  influence  which  a  charitable  use  of  worldly  pro- 
perty will  cause  it  to  exert  upon  our  eternal  destiny.  In 
fact  the  ground  over  which  we  have  already  passed  is 
full  of  inducements  for  the  practice  of  the  virtue  which 
we  have  under  consideration. 

In  relation  to  promises  of  temporal  reward  as  a  motive 
to  the  practice  of  beneficence,  there  are  with  many  strong 
feelings  of  suspicion  and  reprobation.  We  are  told  that 
for  a  man  to  give  his  money  because  he  expects  to  receive 
back  again  as  much  or  more  in  kind,  annihilates  the  gra- 
tuity of  the  act,  and  is  no  more  benevolent  than  to  invest 


264  MOTIVES  TO   BENEFICENCE. 

it  in  bank-stock,  with  the  expectation  of  receiving  his  re- 
gular dividends.  To  this  I  have  only  to  reply,  that  to 
take  God  as  our  security  for  a  return  in  kind  when  we 
give,  is  quite  a  different  transaction  from  taking  the  secu- 
rities which  exist  between  man  and  man,  since  the  first 
implies  a  religious  faith,  or  such  a  trust  in  the  divine  pro- 
mise as  can  never  be  separated  from  the  actual  exercise 
of  piety  in  the  heart  j  while  the  other  implies  no  such 
state  of  heart,  is  exercised  in  common  by  men  of  all 
varieties  of  moral  character,  and  is  based  simply  o  n  the 
ordinary  faith  of  contracts.  The  giving  away  of  money  as 
a  road  to  prosperity  and  wealth  cannot  be  pursued  by  a 
man  of  weak  faith.  Such  a  man  will  prefer  to  trust  to 
bis  skill  in  hoarding,  rather  than  the  divine  promises ;  and 
hence,  there  is  little  danger  of  their  being  perverted  into 
the  means  of  perpetuating  a  carnal  spirit.  Furthermore^ 
it  is  no  more  selfish  to  hope  for  prosperity  in  our  worldly 
afiairs,  from  obeying  the  laws  by  which  God  directs  the 
use  of  money,  than  it  is  to  hope  for  blessings  in  answer 
to  prayer.  And  yet,  without  such  hope  prayer  could  not 
exist.  This  objection  therefore,  like  an  ignis  fatuus,  van- 
ishes as  we  approach  it. 

It  is  said,  moreover,  that  the  position  contradicts  mat- 
ters of  fact,  since  the  liberal  are  as  often  poor  as  [the 
illiberal,  and  take  their  full  share  in  the  hazards  and  losses 
connected  with  the  prosecution  of  business.  I  am  aware 
that,  to  assume  for  a  pious  liberality  in  giving  money  for 
purposes  of  beneficence,  and  greater  worldly  prosperity, 
the  relation  of  cause  and  eflect,  or  to  say  that  where  the 
firit  exists  the  Utter  must  follow,  ia  a  position  liable  to- 


PROMISES  OF  TEMPORAL  REWARD.  265 

many  apparent  objections  from  the  /acts  of  real  life.  But, 
how  many  of  these  contradictions  are  merely  apparent* 
arising  from  our  misjudging  concerning  the  nature  of  the 
liberality  itself,  or  from  drawing  hasty  and  unfounded  con- 
clusions concerning  the  result,  it  may  be  difficult  to  deter- 
mine. There  are  many  ways  in  which  a  man  may  give 
and  yet  not  do  it  on  the  principles  of  the  Bible  ;  and  so 
there  are  many  circumstances  from  which  one  who  gives 
on  those  principles  may  seem  for  the  time  to  fail  of  his 
reward,  but  to  whom  it  will  be  sure  in  the  end.  The  bare 
fact  of  occasional  gratuities  to  the  best  objects,  is  no  evi- 
dence that  they  are  bestowed  in  eompliance  with  the  spirit 
and  tenor  of  the  Scriptures.  They  may  be  wanting  in  the 
principle,  in  the  uniformity,  m  the  discretion,  in  the  per- 
severance, in  the  singleness  of  eye  to  the  divine  glory, 
and  in  other  qualities  essential  to  the  identity  of  Christian 
liberality.  They  may  result  from  constitutional  propen- 
sities to  be  lavish  in  the  use  of  money,  which,  by  some 
accident  of  birth  or  education,  have  been  thrown  into 
channels  seemingly  religious ;  or  from  the  desire  to  be 
thought  more  able  to  give  than  a  man  really  is,  and  so, 
when  the  bubble  breaks,  and  the  facts  come  to  light,  it 
may  be  erroneously  esteemed  a  case  of  contradiction  to 
the  principle  that  Christian  liberality  secures  greater 
worldly  prosperity.  Individuals  also  in  whom  the  memo- 
ry of  past  unfairness  in  business  awakens  apprehensions 
of  a  future  blight  to  all  their  earthly  hopes,  may  perhaps 
seize  upon  the  doctrine  we  advocate  ;  and  thus  give  being 
to  a  harvest  of  hot-bed  charities,  under  an  impression  that 
they  may  operate  as  a  policy  of  insurance  upon  their 
33 


266  MOTIVES  TO  BENEFICENCE. 

estates.  As  well  may  a  man  attempt  to  turn  the  thunder, 
bolt  from  its  course  with  a  straw,  as  to  ward  off  by  these 
means  the  evils  which  his  avarice  has  engendered. 

Some  such  undetected  deficiency  may  destroy  the  va- 
lidity of  the  exceptionable  cases,  that  may  perhaps  occur 
to  our  minds.  And  on  the  other  hand,  we  are  equally 
liable  to  be  deceived  about  the  results  of  a  man's  con- 
duct upon  his  temporal  interest,  by  judging  too  premature- 
ly, or  by  taking  partial  views  of  the  case  ;  when  it  is  only 
from  a  man's  history  taken  as  a  whole,  that  facts  can  be 
made  out.  There  may  be  under  the  prosperity  of  the 
covetous  man  volcanic  fires,  which  in  the  end  will  break 
out  and  scatter  his  golden  stores  to  the  wind ;  or  perhaps 
we  shall  not  see  the  dire  effects  of  his  habits  till  his  descen- 
dants come  into  his  place,  and  either  waste  his  substance, 
or  convert  it  into  the  means  of  their  own  ruin.  Thus  it 
was  with  Ahab  when  he  came  into  possession  of  the  vine- 
yard of  Naboth  the  Jezreelite  by  means  of  rapine  and 
murder ;  the  punishment  was  decreed,  but  the  blow  was 
not  struck  ti)ll  after  his  death,  when  it  came  down  with 
utter  exterigfiination  upon  his  posterity.* 

On  the  other  hand,  the  man  who  is  religiously  liberal 
with  his  income,  may  have  a  temporary  cloud  come  over 
his  affairs  that  might  lead  one  to  suppose  that  the  connec, 
tion  of  such  a  practice  with  greater  prosperity  is  chimeri- 
cal, when  by  waiting  a  little,  he  would  see  the  sun  break- 
ing out  from  behind  that  cloud  with  brighter  beams  than 
ever.  Perhaps  the  effect  of  his  habits,  like  bread  cast 
ypon  the  waters,  may  not  be  realized  till  after  many  days, 

♦  I  Kings,  xxi.  21,  29. 


PROMISES  OF  TEMPORAL  REWARD. 


^61 


It  is  only  by  looking  at  conduct  and  its  tendencies  in  the 
aggregate,  that  facts  can  be  gathered  to  determine  a  point 
like  this.  Whatever  may  be  said  of  counteracting  facts, 
I  think  that  most  minds  have  in  themselves  the  means  of 
being  satisfied  from  observations  upon  real  life  that  an 
age,  a  nation,  community,  or  an  individual  distinguished 
for  beneficence,  liberal,  disinterested,  and  conscientious, 
would  be  equally  distinguished  for  the  means  of  worldly 
enjoyment ;  while  on  the  other  hand,  one  that  should  be 
churlish,  sordid,  exclusive,  and  misanthropic,  would  be 
shorn  even  of  the  beams  of  physical  delight.  There  are  few 
persons,  perhaps  none,  who  would  not  upon  serious  reflec- 
tion, prefer  to  take  the  chance  of  worldly  prosperity  and  en- 
joyment of  one  who  is  ever  devising  plans  of  doing  good  with 
his  money,  than  to  take  that  of  an  opposite  spirit.  For,  be_ 
sides  the  security  of  greater  earthly  good  which  we  invol- 
untarily associate  with  the  course  of  the  piously  and  con- 
scientiously liberal,  nothing  is  more  certain  than,  that  the 
state  of  the  heart  from  which  their  habits  flow  is  the  very 
element  of  bliss.  "  If  there  be  a  pleasure  on  earth  which 
angels  cannot  enjoy,  and  which  they  might  almost  envy 
man  the  possession  of,  it  is  the  power  of  relieving  distress. 
If  there  be  a  pain  which  devils  might  pity  man  for  endur- 
ing, it  is  the  death-bed  reflection  that  we  have  possessed 
the  power  of  doing  good,  but  that  we  have  abused  and 
perverted  it  to  purposes  of  ill."  In  fine,  reflection  will  be 
apt  to  convince  most  person.s>  that  matters  of  fact  rather 
confirm  than  invalidate  the  connection  of  greater  worldly 
prosperity  with  the  exercise  of  a  consistent  beneficence. 
At  all  events,  as  God  has  judged  it  best  to  place  promises 


268  MOTIVES    TO    BENEFICENCE. 

of  such  prosperity  among  the  motives  to  liberality,  we 
deem  it  safe  to  treat  them  with  respect  and  confidence. 

A  good  man  sheweth  favor,  and  lendeth — he  will 
guide  his  affairs  with  discretion.  Surely  he  shall  not  be 
moved  forever.  He  hath  dispersed — he  hath  given  to  the 
poor  ;  his  righteousness  endureth  forever — his  horn  shall 
be  exalted  with  honor.*  The  influence  of  a  pious  concern 
to  make  one's  worldly  income  subservient  to  the  greatest 
good  of  mankind,  in  restraining  those  overreaching  pas- 
sions that  precipitate  men  upon  measures  which  result  in 
the  wreck  of  fortunes,  and  in  leading  to  the  adoption  of 
safe  plans  of  business,  is  neither  so  intricate  nor  so  seldom 
witnessed,  as  to  leave  any  difficulty  in  appreciating  its 
force.  Failures  in  business,  nine  times  out  often,  may  be 
traced  to  that  overweening  desire  for  wealth,  or  impetu- 
ous haste  to  gain  the  object,  which  a  due  regard  to  the 
glory  of  God  and  the  good  of  mankind  might  have 
restrained.  Or  they  result  from  that  improvident  and 
reckless  use  of  money,  into  which  a  man  who  considers 
himself  only  the  steward  of  what  he  has,  to  be  called  to 
an  account  ere  long  by  the  supfeme  Owner,  is  in  little 
danger  of  being  betrayed. 

Those  in  whom  the  desire  of  gain  becomes  predomi- 
nant, are  apt  to  urge  their  means  of  acquiring  to  the 
utmost  point  of  tension  ;  incur  heavy  responsibilities  with 
little  prospect  of  being  able  to  meet  them  ;  stake  all  upon 
the  uncertain  wheel  of  fortune  ;  and  hence,  a  trifling  mis- 
adventure coming  athwart  their  course  dissipates  in  one 

♦  Ps.  cxii.  5—9. 


PROMISES    OF   TEMPORAL    REWARD.  269: 

hour  their  golden  dreams,  and  plunges  them  in  bank- 
ruptcy  and  ruin.  "  Avarice,"  it  is  truly  said  by  a  certain 
writer,  "has  ruined  more  men  than  prodigality;  and  the 
blindest  thoughtlessness  of  expenditure  has  not  destroyed 
so  many  fortunes,  as  the  calculating  but  insatiable  lust  of 
accumulation."  The  periodical  convulsions  in  the  busi- 
ness  world,  with  which  a  few  years'  observation  renders 
us  familiar,,  may  be  traced  to  precisely  such  an  origin. 
The  heat,  vehemence,  and  impetuous  haste  to  rise  above 
the  necessities  of  toil,  and  to  luxuriate  amid  ample  accun 
mulations,  by  which  the  great  body  of  men  of  business  be- 
come infatuated,  during  a  prosperous  period,  hurry  them 
into  the  most  extended  credit,  and  being  checked  by  trans- 
verse events,  a  collapse  succeeds,  and  an  explosion  takes 
place,  which  spreads  the  work  of  destruction  far  and  wide. 
With  an  imperfect  reckoning,  a  rioting  crew,  a  neglected 
helm,  and  sails  all  spread,  what  can  be  expected  from  the 
ship  of  business,  when  it  has  acquired  under  these  circum-. 
stances  the  momentum  of  a  powerful  gale,  but  that  it 
should  be  lost  in  unknown  seas  ? 

By  laying  out,  therefore,  to  show  favor  to  the  unfor-. 
tunate,  by  dispersing  abroad  a  portion  of  heaven's  pre- 
cious gifts  as  regularly  as  they  are  received,  by  habitu- 
ally feeling  that  all  we  have  belongs  to  God,  and  by  the 
continual  desire  of  gaining  something  to  expend  upon  the 
improvement  of  our  fellow  men,  the  mind  is  kept  in  due 
balance,  and  is  able  to  guide  its  affairs  with  discretion ► 
The  natural  consequence  is,  that  the  evils  by  which  thou- 
sands are  made  poor  are  avoided,,  and  the  horn  is  exalted 
with  honor  and  prosperity. 

33* 


270  MOTIVES   TO    BENEFICENCE. 

This  promise,  however,  is  not  confined  to  a  single 
passage,  but  may  be  found  in  a  variety  of  forms,  and  in  terms 
as  explicit  as  they  can  be  made.  Blessed  is  the  man  that 
considereth  the  poor — the  Lord  will  deliver  him  in  time 
of  trouble.  The  Lord  will  preserve  him,  and  keep  him 
alive  ;  and  he  shall  be  blessed  upon  the  earth — and  thou 
shalt  not  deliver  him  unto  the  will  of  his  enemies.  The 
Lord  will  strengthen  him  upon  the  bed  of  languishing — • 
thou  wilt  make  all  his  bed  in  his  sickness.*  Though  he 
has  no  right  to  expect  exemption  from  trouble,  from  ene- 
mies, from  sickness,  and  from  those  evils  which  are  the 
common  lot  of  humanity,  yet  the  Lord  will  sustain  him 
under  them,  and  will  keep  him  alive,  or  transport  him  to 
a  region  of  peace,  where  the  pious  poor,  whom  his  bounty 
relieved,  shall  receive  him  into  everlasting  habitations. 
The  liberal  who  devise  liberal  things  shall  stand,  and  what 
they  give  to  others  shall  be  given  to  them  in  return,  good 
measure,  pressed  down,  shaken  together,  and  running 
over.f 

Though  fallen  and  debased,  the  human  character  still 
retains  its  respect  for  excellence,  nor  can  it  fail  to  feel 
itself  stirred  up  to  effort  for  the  interest  of  one  in  trouble, 
whose  life  has  been  filled  up  with  disinterested  benefac- 
tions. It  is  owing  to  this  that  Solomon  advises  as  a  mat- 
ter of  prudence,  to  give  a  portion  to  seven,  and  also  to 
eight ;  for  thou  knowest  not  what  evil  shall  be  upon  the 
earth. I  A  life  spent  in  doing  good,  may  expect,  sooner 
or  later,  to  have  what  it  has  conferred  upon  others,  poured 

♦  Pfl.  xli.  1—3.       t  Isa.  xxxii.  8.    Luke  vi.  38.       t  Eccl.  xi.  2. 


PROMISES    OF    TEMPORAL   REWARD.  271 

back  upon  itself  in  ten-fold  profusion.  It  will  be  like  the 
•exhalations  which  the  earth  sends  up  into  the  atmosphere, 
which,  when  they  return,  bring  with  them  the  still  more 
copious  moisture  which  the  ocean  supplies,  to  fertilize  and 
enrich  the  soil.  In  the  actual  good  which  accrues  to 
those  who  are  liberal  on  right  principles,  the  money  thus 
given  proves  to  be  their  most  lucrative  investment.  It 
matters  not  though  their  alms  are  done  in  secret,  where 
no  mortal  eye  can  behold  them  to  devise  means  for  their 
jeward ;  yet  God  sees,  and  he  kas  promised  to  reward 
them  openly.*  As  the  line  of  greatest  fertility  through  a 
landscape,  marks  the  course  of  a  concealed  river,  so  the 
most  luxuriant  growth  of  the  Christian  virtues,  and  of  the 
means  and  capacity  of  worldly  enjoyment,  indicates  with 
sufficient  clearness  where  there  is  the  most  real  and  effi- 
cient interest  in  the  woes  of  mankind. 

Hence,  there  is  great  force  in  the  apostolic  criterion  : 
Now  this  I  say,  he  who  sows  sparingly,  shall  reap 
sparingly,  and  he  who  sows  bountifully,  shall  reap 
bountifully.  For  God  is  able  to  make  every  blessing 
abound  to  you  ;  that  in  every  thing  always  having 
all-sufficiency,  you  may  abound  in  every  good  work.f 
As  the  husbandman  has  reason  to  expect  that  he  shall 
reap  an  amount  of  fruit  proportioned  to  what  he  sows, 
so  the  ^dispenser  of  good  to  others,  may  expect  a  re- 
turn of  good  to  himself;  in  the  ratio  of  what  he  dispenses. 
There  may  be  unforeseen  variations,  as  in  the  case  of  the 
husbandman  ;  but  they  are  not  sufficiently  numerous  to 
unsettle  the  general  principle. 

*  Matt.  vL  4.  f2  Cor,  ix.  6,  8.    , 


272  MOTIVES   TO   BENEFICENCE ► 

He  that  hath  pity  on  the  poor,  lendeth  unto  the  Lordj^. 
and  that  which  he  hath  given  will  he  pay  him  again."^ 
God  identifies  the  interests  of  the  poor  with  his  own,  and 
becomes  the  underwriter  of  all  debts  piously  contracted  in 
conferring  upon  them  temporal  or  spiritual  blessings.  He 
may  allow  the  obligation  to  lie  for  a  time  unpaid ;  but 
still  his  veracity  is  pledged  to  make  it  good  in  the  end. 
We  have,  therefore,  only  to  go  forward  in  works  of  mer- 
cy, in  full  confidence  that  God  will  not  suffer  us  even  in 
this  world  to  be  the  final  losers.  As  his  eye  pities,  as  he 
weighs  the  sighs  of  the  afflicted, 

"And  studies  the  philosophy  of  tears, 
(A  science  yet  unlectured  in  our  schools,) 
As  he  descends  deep  into  the  breast, 
And  finds  their  source  :"t 

yea,  as  his  hand  delights  to  relieve,  so  ought  we  to  have 
pity  upon  the  afflicted,  that  we  may  prove  our  relationship 
to  Him,  as  our  Father  in  heaven.  In  doing  so,  we  need 
not  fear  the  loss  of  our  reward  ;  for  he  that  hath  a  boun- 
tiful eye  shall  he  blessed ;  for  he  giveth  of  his  bread  to 
the  poor.if  He  that  giveth  to  the  poor,  shall  not  lack — 
but  he  that  hideth  his  eyes,  shall  have  many  a  curse.  || 

How  many  cautiously  avoid  scenes  of  misery,  lest 
their  sympathies  should  be  enkindled,  and  thus,  in  the  mo- 
ment of  excitement,  they  should  diminish  aught  of  their 
hoarded  stores !  How  little  do  such  reflect  upon  their 
own  liability  hereafter  to  present  a  spectacle  of  destitu- 
tion and  misery,  even  more  appalling  than  any  they  are 

■  ♦  Prov.  xix.  17.    t  Young,     t  Prov.  xxii.  9.     II  Prov.  xxviii.  27. 


PROMISES   OP   TEMPORAL   REWARD.  2T3 

"now  called  to  witness !  Then,  if  all  eyes  are  turned  away 
from  them,  must  they  not  confess  the  retribution  to  be  a 
Tighteoua  one? 

Jesus  answered  and  said,  Verily  I  say  unto  you,  there 
is  no  man  that  hath  left  house,  or  brethren,  or  sisters,  or 
father,  or  mother,  or  wife,  or  children,  or  lands,  for  my 
^ake  and  the  gospel's,  but  he  shall  receive  a  hundred- 
fold now  in  this  present  time,  houses,  and  brethren,  and 
sisters,  and  mothers,  and  children,  and  lands.*  This  de- 
claration is  too  explicit,  too  positive,  and  from  a  source 
too  unquestionable,  to  require  explanation  or  argument. 
As  he  by  whom  it  was  made  cannot  speak  amiss,  those 
who, /or  his  sake  and  the  gospeVs,  in  a  right  manner  and 
from  right  motives,  sacrifice  earthly  good,  shall  receive 
in  kind  again  a  hundred-fold.  He  that  receiveth  a  prophet 
in  the  name  of  a  prophet,  shall  receive  a  prophet's  reward ; 
and  he  that  receiveth  a  righteous  man,  in  the  name  of  a 
righteous  man,  shall  receive  a  righteous  man's  reward. 
And  whosoever  shall  give  to  drink  unto  one  of  these  little 
ones  a  cup  of  cold  water  only  in  the  name  of  a  disciple, 
!verily  I  say  unto  you,  he  shall  in  nowise  lose  his  reward.f 
Thus,  not  only  the  heavier  losses  of  houses,  lands,  and  rela- 
tives, which  we  sustain  for  Christ's  sake,  shall  have  their  re- 
ward ;  but  the  most  trifling  gratuity  for  the  relief  of  good 
men  will  have  its  reward.  Honor  the  Lord  with  thy  sub- 
stance, and  with  the  first  fruits  of  all  thine  increase  ;  so 
shall  thy  barns  be  filled  with  plenty,  and  thy  presses  shall 
burst  out  with  new  wine.:j:     A  scattering  of  this  kind  only 

*  Mark  x.  29,  30.       t  Matu  x.  41,  42.        t  Prov.  iii.  9,  10. 


274  MOTIVES   TO    BENEFICENCE. 

serves  to  increase  ;  a  casting  of  our  bread  upon  tfie^ 
waters  only  proves  the  way  for  us  to  receive  it  in  aug- 
mented  abundance  ;  and  by  watering  others,  we  secure 
to  ourselves  tbe  privilege  of  being  watered  in  our  turn. 
It  is  the  liberal  soul,  and  not  the  griping  man  of  gold,  that 
shall  be  made  fat.*  Such  are  not  all,  but  only  selections 
from  the  numerous  promises  of  temporal  good  as  a  reward 
of  Christian  liberality,  which  the  Scriptures  contain. 

Such  promises  were  often  repeated  to  the  Hebrew  na- 
tion, and  the  instances  are  not  rare  in  which  their  destitu- 
tion, misery,-  and  subjection  to  enemies,  are  ascribed  to  their 
covetous  contempt  of  the  divine  claims.  Thou  shalt  sure- 
ly give  unto  thy  poor  brother,  and  thine  heart  shall  not 
be  grieved  when  thou  givest  unto  him — hecause  that  for 
this  things  the  Lord  thy  God  shall  bless  thee  in  all  thy 
works,  and  in  all  that  thou  puttest thine  hand  unto.f  Bring 
ye  all  the  tithes  into  the  storehouse,  that  there  may  be 
meat  in  my  house,  and  prove  me  now  herewith,  saith  the 
Lord  of  hosts,  if  I  will  not  open  you  the  windows  of 
heaven  and  pour  you  out  a  blessing,  that  there  shall  not 
be  room  enough  to  receive  it.  And  I  will  rebuke  the 
devourer  for  your  sakes,  and  he  shall  not  destroy  the  fruits 
of  your  ground ;  neither  shall  your  vine  cast  her  fruit- 
before  the  time  in  the  field,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts.J  In 
not  a  few  instances  the  nation  made  trial  of  that  to  which 
they  are  here  exhorted,  and  the  result  fully  verified  the 
prediction.  When  religion  was  revived,  the  temple  re- 
paired, tlie  means  of  sacrificial  offering  duly  supplied,  the 

♦  Prov,  xxiv..  25 -y  also,  xiv.  21'.      t  Dent  xv.  10.     t  Mai.  iii.  10—12.- 


PROMISES  OF  TEMPORAL  REWARD.  275 

appointed  portion  was  rendered  to  the  priest,  the  fa- 
therless, the  widow,  and  the  stranger,  and  thus,  the 
claims  of  God  were  promptly  met ;  then  was  the  date  of 
an  unusual  degree  of  prosperity  to  the  nation.  The 
fields  were  loaded  with  abundance,  the  olive,  the  vine,  the 
iig,  the  date,  the  palm,  and  every  tree  bearing  fruit,  poured 
its  delicious  and  ample  burden  into  the  lap  of  joyful  indus- 
try, and  the  hearts  of  the  people  were  cheered  with  wine^ 
and  their  faces  shone  with  oil.  Flocks  were  spread  over 
■their  hills/their  valleys  were  covered  with  herds,  and  the 
indications  of  prosperity  were  apparent  on  every  hand. 

But  the  reverse  of  all  this  was  their  sad  experience, 
when  the  rites  of  their  religion  were  neglected  either 
from  motives  of  covetousness,  or  fondness  for  strange 
gods.  Then,  famine  showed  his  haggard  visage  within 
vtheir  borders  ;  pestilence  walked  abroad  at  midnight,  or 
desolated  at  noon,  breathing  contagion  and  death  on 
every  hand  4  and  chains,  prisons,  and  slavery  were  the 
portion  of  those  who  survived  the  general  devastation. 
These  effects  of  withholding  their  contributions  from  God's 
cause,  are  glowingly  depicted  in  the  remonstrance  of 
Haggai  with  that  people,  upon  their  return  from  captivi- 
ty, for  their  neglect  to  build  the  house  of  God,  under  the 
pretence  that  the  time  was  not  come  to  do  it.  The  founda- 
tion of  this  pica  for  delay  was,  probably,  that  they  felt 
themselves  yet  too  poor  to  begin  so  great  a  work,  and 
thought  proper  to  wait  till  they  had  recovered  somewhat 
from  the  effects  of  their  bondage.  But  God  did  not  deem 
this  excuse  satisfactory,  and  therefore  commissioned  Hag- 
gai,to  announce  to.them,  thatso  far  from.their  being  too 


276  MOTIVES  TO  BENEFICENCE. 

poor  to  build  a  house  for  Him,  the  only  cause  of  their 
poverty  was  that  they  neglected  this  work.  Thus  speak- 
eth  the  Lord  of  hosts,  saying :  This  people  say,  The 
time  is  not  come,  the  time  that  the  Lord's  house  should* 
be  built.  Then  came  the  word  of  the  Lord  by  Haggai, 
the  prophet,  saying,  Is  it  time  for  you,  O  ye,  to  dwell  in 
your  ceiled  houses,  and  this  house  lie  waste?  Now 
therefore,  thus  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts,  Consider  your 
ways.  That  is,  look  for  a  moment  at  the  facts  of  the 
case.  Yo  have  sown  much,  and  bring  in  little ;  ye  eat, 
but  ye  have  not  enough  ;  ye  drink,  but  ye  are  not  filled- 
with  drink  ;  ye  clothe  you,  but  there  is  none  warm ;  and 
he  that  earneth  wages,  earneth  wages  to  put  it  into  a  bag 
with  holes.  Thus  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts.  Consider  your 
ways.  Go  up  to  the  mountain  and  bring  wood,  and  build 
the  house  ;  and  I  will  take  pleasure  in  it,  and  I  will  be- 
glorified,  saith  the  Lord.  Ye  looked  for  much,  and  lo,  it 
came  to  little  ;  and  when  ye  brought  it  home,  I  did  blow 
upon  it.  Why  ?  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts ;  because  of 
mine  house  that  is  waste,  and  ye  run  every  man  unto  his- 
own  house.  Therefore,  for  this  cause  the  heaven  over 
you  is  stayed  from  dew,  and  the  earth  is  stayed  from  her 
fruit.  And  I  called  for  a  drought  upon  the  land,  and 
upon  the  mountains,  and  upon  the  corn,  and  upon  the  new 
wine,  and  upon  the  oil,  and.  upon  that  which  the  ground, 
bringeth  forth,  and  upon  men  and  upon  cattle,  and  upoa 
all  the  labor  of  the  hands.*  Could  we  pry  into  all  the 
mysteries  of  cause  and  effect,  how  many  cases  should,  wq 

♦  Haggai  i..  2—11.. 


PROMISES   OF   TEMPORAL   REWARD,  277 

find  exactly  answering  to  the  description  here  given,  in 
which  individuals  bring  blight,  disaster,  and  destitution 
upon  themselves  by  withholding  from  the  cause  of  God 
and  of  humanity,  under  pretence  of  being  unable  to  give  ! 
God  brings  the  very  evils  upon  them  which  they  falsely 
plead  as  an  excuse  for  their  parsimony  !  Another  pro- 
phet traced  the  curse  which  hung  over  the  nation  at 
another  period  to  the  same  cause.  Will  a  man  rob  God  ? 
Yet  ye  say,  wherein  have  we  robbed  thee  ?  In  tithes 
and  in  offerings.  Ye  are  cursed  with  a  curse,  for  ye  have 
robbed  me,  even  this  whole  nation.*  God  was  as  prompt 
to  punish  the  covetousness  of  his  people  as  he  was  to 
reward  their  liberality. 

His  rewards  of  this  kind  were  not  confined  to  his 
ancient  people ;  but  are  now  as  sure  as  ever.  For  God> 
observes  an  apostle,  is  not  unrighteous  to  forget  our  work 
and  labor  of  love,  which  we  have  showed  towards  his 
name  in  that  we  have  ministered  to  the  saints,  and  do 
minister,f  What  he  requires  even  of  the  backslider  and 
wandering,  is  not  so  much  confessions  in  words,  or  a  return 
to  the  rituals  of  religion,  as  that  they  should  deal  their 
bread  to  the  hungry ;  that  they  bring  the  poor  that  are 
cast  out  to  their  house ;  and  that  they  hide  not  themselves 
from  their  own  flesh.  Then  shall  their  light  break  forth 
as  the  morning,  and  their  darkness  shall  be  as  the  noon- 
day4  Thus,  the  Scriptures  afford  abundant  security 
that  those  who  bind  mercy  and  truth  about  their  necks — 
who  write  them  upon  the  table  of  their  hearts,  and  who 

♦  Mal.Jiii,  8,^9.  t  Heb.  vi.  10.  t  Isa.  Iviii.  7,  8. 

24 


278  MOTIVES  TO  BENEFICENCE. 

never  forsake  them — shall  find  favor  and  good  under- 
standing in  the  sight  of  men. 

With  this  array  of  Scripture  testimony,  drawn  indis- 
criminately from  the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  to  esta- 
blish the  connection  between  Christian  liberality  and 
greater  worldly  prosperity,  we  feel  ourselves  prepared  to 
meet  any  argument  or  objection  against  the  position,  that 
may  be  forged  on  the  anvil  of  covetousness  or  unbelief. — 
Having  the  sanction  of  a  *  thus  saith  the  Lord,'  affixed  to 
it,  it  matters  not  what  attempts  may  be  made  to  invalidate 
its  truth  by  a  seeming  array  of  counteracting  facts.  Till 
heaven  and  earth  pass  away,  not  one  jot  or  tittle  of  his 
word  shall  fail.     Let  God  be  true,  and  every  man  a  liar. 

Indeed,  we  are  willing  to  leave  it  to  the  reflection  of 
candid  men,  whether  the  drift  of  what  we  witness  in  reai 
life  does  not  rather  confirm  this  principle  ?  In  what  town 
or  city  do  we  see  most  wealth  and  worldly  enjoyment? 
In  the  one  where  most  is  expended  to  build  hospitals  for 
the  sick,  almshouses  for  the  poor,  schools  for  the  instruc- 
tion  of  ignorant  children,  to  promote  the  institutions  of 
religion  and  learning,  and  to  carry  into  execution  the 
most  efficient  plans  of  beneficence  ?  or,  in  the  one  where 
avarice  leaves  the  sick  to  perish,  the  poor  to  pine  with 
hopeless  want,  ignorant  groups  of  half-starved  children 
destitute  of  the  means  of  instruction,  and  for  that  very  rea- 
son exhibiting  a  fearful  precocity  in  crime,  and  in  which 
deeds  of  mercy  are  unknown  1  Whose  worldly  prospects 
would  you  prefer,  those  of  the  frigid  miser,  or  of  the  man 
who  cherishes  an  active  sympathy  in  the  woes  of  his  fel- 
low men  ?    There  can  be  no  mistake  on  this  point.   Cha* 


TROMISES  OF  TEMPORAL  REWARD.  279 

rity  judiciously  exercised,  though  it  be  at  great  expense ^ 
does  bring  its  full  reward  of  present  prosperity  and  enjoy, 
raent.  The  merciful  man  doeth  good  to  his  own  soul ; — 
but  he  that  is  cruel,  troubleth  his  own  flesh.* 

Nor  do  the  Scriptures  omit  to  state  cases  in  which 
pious  gratuities  come  attended  with  a  present  reward. — 
That  of  God's  ancient  people  we  have  already  noticed. 
Added  to  this,  are  those  of  the  two  women  of  Zarephath, 
and  Shunem,  of  Jacob,  Job,  Publius  and  others.  The 
little  cake  which  the  widow  of  Zarephath  first  baked  for 
the  prophet  from  her  scanty  store,  brought  such  an  instant 
blessing  upon  her  barrel  of  meal  and  her  cruise  of  oil, 
that  the  meal  was  not  wasted,  neither  did  the  oil  fail,  till 
the  day  that  God  brought  rain  upon  the  earth,  and  the 
famine  ceased  its  ravages.  The  intimacy  with  the  Lord's 
prophet,  which  her  hospitality  was  the  means  of  securing, 
saved  her  son  also,  whom  death  had  smitten,  and  thus  caused 
her  heart  to  sing  for  joy.f  And  for  the  kindness  which 
the  Shunamite  showed  to  Elisha  in  entertaining  him,  and 
preparing  for  him  a  chamber,  she  was  rewarded  by  the 
gift  of  a  son,  by  the  restoration  of  that  son  to  life,  by 
being  forewarned  of  an  approaching  famine  in  season  to 
prepare  for  it,  and  finally  by  the  recovery  of  her  lost 
inheritance.  :f 

The  advantages  accruing  to  these  pious  females  from 
opening  their  hearts  and  stores  to  good  men  as  such,  were 
a  hundred  fold  more  valuable  at  this  present  time,  than 
all  they  expended  ;  and  the  instruction  which  distilled 

*  Prov.  iii.  3,  4.    t  1  Kings  xvii.    t  2  Kings,  chaps,  iv.  and  viii. 


280  MOTIVES  TO  BENEFICENCE. 

Upon  them  like  dew  from  the  lips  of  the  Lord's  prophets, 
doubtless  rendered  them  fruitful  in  those  undying  virtues 
which  ended  in  eternal  life.  Now,  all  this  good  would 
have  been  withheld,  but  for  the  spirit  of  generous  sacrifice 
of  which  these  saintly  women  were  possessed. 

And  the  vow  to  devote  to  God  a  tenth  of  all,  with 
which  Jacob  began  his  career,  instead  of  making  him 
poor,  caused  him  to  increase  exceedingly,  so  that  he  had 
much  cattle,  and  maid-servants,  and  men-servants,  and 
camels,  and  asses.*  The  promptitude  with  which  Noah 
exhausted  his,  resources  upon  the  ark,  in  obedience  to  a 
divine  call,  secured  him  and  his  family  from  the  destruc- 
tion that  came  upon  the  old  world,  and  made  him  the 
starting  point  of  a  new  race  to  people  the  earth.  By 
giving  up  all,  he  gained  all. 

The  former  years  of  Job  had  not  only  been  distin- 
guished for  an  uncommon  share  of  prosperity,  but  for  a 
princely  and  munificent  charity  to  the  sons  of  sorrow  and 
want.  The  blessing  of  them  that  were  ready  to  perish 
came  upon  him,  and  he  caused  the  widow's  heart  to  sing 
for  joy.  He  was  eyes  to  the  blind,  and  feet  to  the  lame ; 
he  was  a  father  to  the  poor,  and  the  cause  which  he  knew 
not  he  searched  out.f  And  though  for  a  time,  to  try  his 
faith  and  patience,  the  dark  wave  of  adversity  rolled  over 
him,  bearing  away  health,  property,  portion  after  por- 
tion, till  all  was  gone,  friends,  and  all — but  the  conscious- 
ness of  his  integrity,  and  the  firmness  of  his  hope  in  God  ; 
yet  his  possessions,  honors,  and  prosperity,  were  more 

*  Gen.  XXX.  4S.  i  Job  xxix. 


PROMISES    OF    TEMPORAL    REWARD.  281 

than  restored  to  him  in  the  end.  So  the  Lord  blessed  the 
latter  end  of  Job  more  than  the  beginning — for  he  had 
fourteen  thousand  sheep,  and  six  thousand  camels,  and  a 
thousand  yoke  of  oxen,  and  a  thousand  she  asses.*  Like 
the  phoenix,  he  rose  from  the  ashes  of  desolation,  clad  in  the 
charms  of  renovated  life,  and  vigorous  with  immortal  hope. 
We  might  go  on  multiplying  cases  like  these  from  the 
Scriptures,  and  from  the  facts  of  real  life,  the  present  age 
being  prolific  in  those  that  would  be  in  point ;  but  we 
shall  dismiss  the  subject  with  the  statement  of  a  single  case 
of  a  more  recent  date. 

B ,  when  a  young  man  of  nineteen,  came  to  the 

city  of without  money  or  friends,  but  with  a  charac- 
ter formed  to  virtue  and  intelligence  under  the  best  influ- 
ences of  a  New  England  village.  At  first  his  mind  was 
confused  amid  the  throng  of  men  and  din  of  business  in  a 
great  city  ;  and  anxious  to  dissipate  the  gloom  that  came 
over  his  feelings,  as  well  as  to  obey  the  dictates  of  con- 
science, he  walked  out  the  first  Sabbath  after  his  arrival 
to  find  a  church,  and  chanced  to  fall  into  one  of  which  Dr. 
was  pastor.  It  proved  one  of  the  doctor's  hap- 
piest efforts  ;  his  attention  was  riveted  ;  he  had  never  heard 
the  like  before,  and  his  mind  was  thrown  upon  a  track  of 
thought  entirely  new.  He  went  again  and  again,  and  the 
more  he  went  the  more  interested  he  became,  till  at  length 
he  was  led  gradually  to  renounce  his  sins  and  repose  in 
the  merits  of  Christ  for  salvation.  He  sought  an  inter- 
view with  the  doctor,  who  encouraged  his  hopes— ex- 

*  Job  xlii.  12. 
24* 


282  MOTIVES — PROMISES. 

plained  to  him  the  way  of  the  Lord  more  perfectly,  and 
ultimately  admitted  him   as    a  member  of  his  church. 

B advanced  rapidly  in  a  knowledge  of  religion  and 

business,  growing  in  favor  with  God  and  man  ;  and  when 
he  entered  into  trade  for  himself,  it  was  with  the  secret 
determination,  to  which  he  ever  afterwards  adhered,  of 
devoting  a  certain  proportion  of  the  proceeds  to  God.  His 
success  was  unexampled,  and  in  the  short  space  of  twelve 
years  he  had  given  to  religious  objects  more  than  forty 
thousand  dollars ;  and,  dying  at  an  early  age,  he  left  in 
his  will  about  the  same  amount  to  be  thus  appropriated, 
besides  leaving  an  ample  provision  for  his  family.  The 
proverb  was  exemplified  in  him,  that,  *  the  liberal  deviseth 
liberal  things,  and  by  liberal  things  shall  he  stand.'  We 
might  multiply  examples  like  this  from  all  the  depart- 
ments of  business,  but  to  avoid  swelling  the  limits  of  our 
work,  we  prefer  to  leave  them  for  the  research  and 
reflection  of  the  reader  to  supply.  This  kind  of  evidence 
is  tangible,  cogent,  and  places  it  beyond  reasonable  doubt 
that  the  exercise  of  a  judicious,  scriptural,  and  untiring 
liberality  in  the  use  of  earthly  treasure,  will  be  followed 
with  a  blessing  upon  the  basket  and  the  store. 


CHAPTER    XVIII. 


Further  motives  to  beneficence. 


Having  brought  to  view  those  principles  in  nature 
and  revelation  in  which  the  duty  under  consideration  is 
founded,  we  come  now  to  a  few  remaining  topics,  with 
which  we  propose  to  close  our  remarks  on  this  branch  of 
our  work,  and  then  leave  it  for  those  who  have  attended 
to  them  to  determine,  with  their  conscience  and  their  God, 
how  far  they  will  submit  to  the  divine  claims  on  this 
point.  We  hope  it  will  be  borne  in  noind,  that  as  the 
Scriptures  invariably  adhere  to  the  design  of  affecting 
practice,  as  well  as  faith,  and  of  instructing  in  righteous- 
ness, as  well  as  being  profitable  for  doctrine,  so  our  ob- 
ject is  the  same.  What  are  arguments  without  convic- 
tion? What  is  conviction  without  practice  ?  To  be 
benefited  by  truth,  it  must  be  received  into  the  mind,  must 
be  inwardly  digested,  and  incorporated  with  the  ele- 
ments of  our  being  ;  and  thus,  must  leave  its  deep  traces 
upon   our  character   and   conduct.     Truths   like  those 


284  FURTHER  MOTIVES  TO  BENEFICENCE. 

which  we  have  considered,  should  they  take  effect  upon 
us,  can  scarcely  fail  of  making  our  lives  useful.  Those 
who,  in  addition  to  their  own  support,  live  and  labor  for 
the  means  of  instruction  to  the  ignorant,  of  salvation  to 
the  lost,  and  of  drying  the  tears  of  orphan  helplessness,  and 
widowed  sorrow,  will  be  sure  to  leave,  at  their  death, 
the  world  in  a  happier  condition  than  they  found  it. 

Among  the  further  motives  to  beneficence  in  the  use 
of  money  which  the  Scriptures  furnish,  it  is  not  the  least 
considerable  that  they  represent  it  as  lelonging  to  a  bright 
constellation  of  virtues^  in  which  it  shines  as  a  star  of  the 
first  magnitude.  It  finds  place  among  that  assemblage  of 
excellences  with  which  they  paint  an  esteemed  charac- 
ter. 

The  truly  touching  story  of  the  good  Samaritan,  by 
which  our  Saviour  shows  what  constitutes  a  neighbor  and 
friend,  stands  forever  as  an  eloquent  defence  of  an  effi- 
cient sympathy  in  the  miseries  of  the  afl^icted.*  In  the 
terms  of  commendation  also,  in  which  Onesimus,  Boaz, 
Dorcas,  Cornelius,  the  Macedonian  and  Achaian  converts, 
'  a  virtuous  woman,'  and  others  are  spoken  of,  the  virtue  un- 
der consideration  finds  a  prominent  place.  In  invoking 
mercy  on  the  house  of  Onesiphorus,  the  apostle  assigns  this 
as  the  reason,  that  he  oft  refreshed  me,  was  not  ashamed 
of  my  chain,  but  sought  me  out  very  diligently  when  he 
was  in  Rome.f  The  hospitality  of  Boaz  to  Ruth  when 
she  was  in  trouble,  in  furnishing  her  food  till  she  was  satis- 
fied, and  permitting  her  to  glean,  even  among  the  sheaves, 

♦  Luke  X.  30-37.  t       1 1  Tim.  i,  16-18, 


FURTHER  MOTIVES  TO  BENEFICENCE.  285 

though  actions  in  themselves  minute,  are  recorded  with 
that  beautiful  simplicity,  for  which  the  inspired  pages  are 
distinguished.*  And  what  is  more  worthy  to  be  transmit- 
ted to  posterity,  than  deeds  of  mercy  to  widowed  penury 
and  sorrow  ?  Had  history  made  it  an  object  to  chronicle 
such  events,  instead  of  those  which  have  been  connected 
with  the  havoc  of  human  life,  it  would  have  shed  a  more 
genial  influence  over  succeeding  ages.  But  by  a  strange 
infatuation,  men  have  united  in  dooming  to  forgetfulness 
all  the  brighter  visions  of  the  past,  and  in  consigning  to 
immortality  only  deeds  that  were  dyed  in  blood.  It  is  re- 
corded in  praise  of  Cornelius,  that  he  gave  much  alms 
to  the  people ;  of  Dorcas,  that  she  was  full  of  good 
works  and  aim-deeds  which  she  did  and  of  the  *  virtu- 
ous woman,'  that  she  stretcheth  out  her  hand  to  the  poor, 
yea,  she  reacheth  forth  her  hand  to  the  needy. t  The 
apostle,  in  commending  a  certain  portion  of  the  early 
church,  observes.  It  hath  pleased  them  of  Macedonia  and 
Achaia  to  make  a  certain  contribution  to  the  poor  saints 
at  Jerusalem. f 

As  it  is  from  the  traits  which  a  people  ascribe  to  cha- 
racters whom  they  unite  to  commend,  that  their  views  of 
merit  and  demerit  may  be  learned,  so  the  praises  which 
the  Scriptures  bestow  upon  a  prompt  and  liberal  exercise 
of  charity  to  the  afflicted,  and  the  high  place  which  they 
uniformly  assign  to  it  among  the  virtues,  is  as  clear  an 
indication  of  their  sentiment  as  express  precept.  Indeed, 
every  impartial  mind  who  shall  examine   the  word  of 

*  Ruth  ii.  14—16.  t  Acts  x.  2.,  and  ix.  36.    Prov.  xxxi.  20. 

$  Rom.  XV.  26. 


286  FURTHER  MOTIVES  TO  BENEFICENCE. 

God  with  this  subject  in  view,  can  hardly  fail  of  being 
convinced,  that  the  religion  it  inculcates  can  no  more  be 
acted  upon  without  plans  of  doing  good  to  the  bodies  and 
souls  of  men,  than  it  can  be  without  love  to  God  and  faith 
in  Christ.  To  take  from  it  its  interest  in  the  alleviation  of 
suffering  is  like  extracting  from  the  sunbeams  their  genial 
warmth,  and  leaving  nought  but  an  empty  glare  of  light. 

We  are  further  persuaded  to  the  practice  of  this  vir- 
tue by  the  dark  and  appalling  ideas  with  which  a  contempt 
of  the  claims  of  humanity  is  associated^  and  the  fearful 
punishment  with  which  it  is  threatened.  As  men  may  be 
known  by  the  company  they  keep,  so  may  the  turpitude  of 
any  practice,  by  the  crimes  with  which  it  is  associated  in 
the  Scriptures.  The  vile  person  will  speak  villany,  and 
his  heart  will  work  iniquity,  to  practise  hypocrisy,  and  to 
utter  error  against  the  Lord,  to  make  empty  the  soul  of 
the  hungry ;  and  he  will  cause  the  drink  of  the  thirsty  to 
fail.  The  instruments  also  of  the  churl  are  evil ;  he 
deviseth  wicked  devices  to  destroy  the  poor  with  lying 
words,  even  when  the  needy  speaketh  right.*  Here  vil- 
lany, hypocrisy,  blasphemy,  and  utter  abandonment  to 
evil ;  a  character  full  of  iniquity  and  wicked  devices,  are 
associated  with  making  empty  the  soul  of  the  hungry,  and 
causing  the  drink  of  the  thirsty  to  fail.  The  abuse  of  the 
needy  does  not  consist  merely  in  defrauding  them,  but  in 
keeping  back  through  covetousness,  those  means  of  tem- 
poral comfort,  mental  improvement,  and  future  salvation, 
which  God  has  put  into  our  hands  for  their  use. 

*  Isa.  xxxii.  6,  7. 


FURTHER    MOTIVES   TO    BENEFICENCE.  287 

The  sin  of  Sodom,  which  is  said  to  have  been  griev. 
ous,  consisted  in  pride,  fullness  of  bread,  and  abundance  of 
idleness  ;  or  the  cruel,  libidinous,  and  gluttonous  habits 
consequent  thereupon ;  and  moreover,  it  was  connected  with 
a  neglect  to  strengthen  the  hands  of  the  poor  and  needy.* 

"  The  extremes  of  luxury  have  a  tendency  to  harden 
the  human  mind,"  to  steel  it  against  sympathy  in  suffer- 
ing ;  and  hence,  "  it  was  from  the  bowl  and  the  banquet, 
that  Nero  issued  forth  to  fiddle  to  the  flames  of  Rome."  We 
have  many  examples  of  the  utter  contempt  of  the  misfortunes 
with  which  others  are  visited,  that  is  bred  by  habitual  in- 
dulgence in  the  more  degrading  vices.  Those  who  have 
given  loose  reins  to  lust,  for  instance,  can  wind  with  hell- 
ish art  into  the  confidence  of  the  widowed,  grief-stricken 
mother,  on  purpose  to  rob  her  only  daughter  of  all  that 
makes  character  desirable ;  and  then,  when  their  dark 
designs  are  accomplished,  exult  at  the  spectacle  of  wretch- 
edness which  they  have  produced,  as  an  evidence  of  their 
superior  skill !  Alas,  there  are  but  too  many  features  in 
the  human  character,  that  might  lead  one  to  mistake  men 
for  demons,  and  earth  for  hell !  And  these  are  the  vices 
which  stand  associated  with  a  disregard  of  the  claims  of 
beneficence  ! 

With  how  much  propriety,  therefore,  the  heaviest 
judgments  are  denounced  in  the  Scriptures  against  those 
who  are  guilty  of  this  neglect,  every  one  may  see.  He 
shall  have  judgment  without  mercy  that  hath  showed  no 

*  Ezek.  xvi.  49,  50.  Gen.  xviii.  20.  That  the  passage  in  Ezekiel 
is  mystically  applied  to  one  of  the  nations  of  his  time,  docs  cot 
aflfect  the  purpose  for  which  we  quote  it. 


288  FURTHER   MOTIVES   TO    BENEFICENCE. 

mercy,  and  mercy  rejoiceth  against  judgment.*  Those 
who  thrust  mercy  from  them,  shall  be  thrust  from  mercy  ; 
and  though  they  call,  they  shall  not  be  heard  ;  and  though 
they  seek  it  early,  they  shall  not  find  it.  This  is  a  fear- 
ful threatening,  and  was  most  fearfully  realized  in  the 
case  of  the  rich  man,  who,  in  his  life  time,  heeded  not  the 
wants  of  Lazarus,  at  his  gate  full  of  sores,  and  desiring  to 
be  fed  with  the  crumbs  that  fell  from  his  table.  For  when 
he  died,  in  hell  he  lifted  up  his  eyes,  being  in  torments, 
and  seeth  Abraham  afar  off,  and  Lazarus  in  his  bosom— 
and  he  cried  and  said,  Father  Abraham,  have  mercy  on 
me,  and  send  Lazarus,  that  he  may  dip  the  tip  of  his  fin- 
ger  in  water,  and  cool  my  tongue ;  for  I  am  tormented  in 
•  this  flame.  But  the  awful  reply  confirmed  the  truth  that 
he  shall  have  judgment  without  mercy  that  hath  showed 
no  mercy ;  Son,  remember,  that  thou  in  thy  life  time 
hadst  thy  good  things,  and  likewise  Lazarus  evil  things — 
but  now  he  is  comforted,  and  thou  art  tormented.  Oh, 
who  can  measure  the  punishment  of  those  who,  deaf  to 
the  calls  of  mercy  here,  shall  find  mercy  deaf  to  their  calls 
hereafler.|  Whoso  stoppeth  his  ears  at  the  cry  of  the 
poor,  he  shall  cry  himself,  but  shall  not  be  heard. f 

In  the  solemn  account,  also,  which  our  Saviour  gives 
of  the  doom  of  the  finally  impenitent,  it  is  remarkable  that 
each  of  the  five  charges  enumerated  against  them,  has 
reference  to  a  neglect  of  the  duties  of  charity  and  benefi- 
cence. Then  shall  the  King  say  to  them  on  his  left 
hand,  Depart  from  me,  ye  cursed,  into  everlasting  fire, 

♦  Jer.  ii.  13.  t  Luke  xvi.  19-31.  t  Prov.  xxi.  13. 


FURTHER   MOTIVES   TO    BENEFICENCE.  289 

prepared  for  the  devil  and  his  angels — for  I  was  an  hun. 
gered,  and  ye  gave  me  no  meat ;  I  was  thirsty,  and  ye 
gave  me  no  drink  ;  I  was  a  stranger,  and  ye  took  me  not 
in ;  naked,  and  ye  clothed  me  not ;  sick  and  in  prison, 
and  ye  visited  me  not.  Then  shall  they  also  answer  him, 
saying,  Lord,  when  saw  we  thee  an  hungered,  or  athirst, 
or  a  stranger,  or  naked,  or  sick,  or  in  prison,  and  did  not 
minister -unto  thee?  Then  shall  he  answer  them,  saying, 
Verily  I  say  unto  you,  inasmuch  as  ye  did  it  not  to  one  of 
the  least  of  these  my  brethren,  ye  did  it  not  to  me.  And 
these  shall  go  away  into  everlasting  punishment.*  No- 
thing more  directly  in  point  could  be  imagined.  The 
doom  of  sinners  to  hell  will  find  its  reason  and  propriety 
in  their  habitual  disregard  of  the  claims  of  beneficence.—' 
Let  those  who  have  no  plans  of  doing  good  with  their 
money,  consider  this  and  be  alarmed. 

Finally,  the  practice  o^  this  duty  will  have  a  most 
favoralle  influence  upon  our  future  destination.  The 
Scriptures  unequivocally  encourage  the  hope  that  money 
thus  expended  will  be  like  a  profitable  investment,  the 
proceeds  of  which  will  be  realized  when  the  soul  enters 
upon  the  eternal  state.  Our  Saviour  teaches  us  the  true 
secret  of  making  it  productive  when  he  says.  Make  to 
yourselves  friends  of  the  mammon  of  unrighteousness, 
[that  is,  of  riches,  as  all  commentators  agree,]  that  when 
ye  fail,  [at  death,]  they  may  receive  you  into  everlasting 
habitations.!  "  What  our  Lord  here  exhorts  us  to,"  ob- 
serves Henry,  "  is  to  provide  for  our  comfortable  recep* 
tion  to  the  happiness  of  another  world,  by  making  good  use 

*  Matt.  XXV.  41—46.  t  Luke  xvi.  9. 

25 


2^0  FURTHER    MOTIVES   TO    BENEFICENCE. 

of  our  possessions  and  enjoyments  in  this  world.  It  is  the 
wisdom  of  the  men  of  this  world  so  to  manage  their  money, 
as  that  they  may  have  the  benefit  of  it  hereafter,  and  not  for 
the  present  only  ;  therefore  they  put  it  out  to  interest,  buy 
land  with  it,  put  it  into  this  or  the  other  fund.  Now,  we 
should  learn  of  them  to  make  use  of  our  money,  so  as  that 
we  may  be  the  better  for  it  in  another  world ;  so  cast  it 
upon  the  waters,  as  that  we  may  find  it  after  many  days." 
"  As  the  cries  of  the  oppressed  and  neglected  poor  will 
testify  against  unfaithful  stewards  to  their  condemnation," 
says  Scott  on  this  passage,  "  so  the  prayers  of  widows 
and  orphans,  for  their  pious  benefactors,  will  testify  for 
them,  that  they  were  faithful ;  and  such  believers  as  have 
died  before  them,  may  be  considered  as  standing  ready  to 
welcome  their  benefactors  to  their  everlasting  habitation* 
when  they  quit  this  world." 

Upon  the  failure  or  wreck  of  our  earthly  fortunes  at 
death,  what  a  privilege  it  would  be  to  have  so  used  them» 
that  hundreds  of  pious  poor,  who  were  fed,  taught  the  way 
of  salvation,  or  otherwise  benefited  by  our  gratuities, 
already  in  heaven,  with  open  arms  should  await  our  arrival, 
prepared  to  testify  to  our  beneficence,  and  receive  us  with 
joy  to  their  eternal  abodes.  Oh,  money  so  used  will  be 
found  to  have  been  our  most  productive  earthly  invest- 
ment, yielding  to  us  a  thousand-fold  !  No  encouragement 
concerning  the  good  influence  upon  our  future  state  of 
being  which  money  religiously  appropriated  may  be  made 
to  exert,  could  be  more  explicit  than  what  we  find  in  these 
words  of  our  Saviour. 

The  same  sentiment  is  corroborated  by  the  apostle 


FURTHER   MOTIVES   TO   BENEFICENCE.  291 

when  he  states  as  a  motive  for  the  rich  to  do  good  with 
their  money,  that  they  would  thus  lay  up  in  store  a  good 
foundation  against  the  time  to  come,  that  they  might  lay 
hold  on  eternal  life.*  Doing  good,  being  rich  ii^ood 
works,  ready  to  distribute,  willing  to  communicate,  would 
be  like  laying  by  money  for  future  use,  which  should  be 
realized  in  heaven ,  enabling  them  to  lay  hold  on  eternal 
life.  Such  a  motive  could  have  no  weight  with  any  but 
those  who  have  Christ  begotten  within  them,  the  hope  of 
glory.  To  them,  however,  what  a  privilege  is  it  to 
reflect,  when  working  with  their  hands,  or  prosecuting 
plans  of  business,  that  they  can  serve  Christ  and  benefit 
men  by  what  they  acquire  ;  and  thus  make  it  subservient 
to  their  eternal  joy  and  rest  in  the  kingdom  of  God.  Oh, 
such  a  reflection  sweetens  earthly .  labor  and  fatigue  !  A 
life  spent  in  thus  making  material  objects  the  means  of 
spiritual  good  to  ourselves  and  others,  will  fill  heaven  with 
delightful  reminiscences  of  our  earthly  career !  But  if 
we  were  doomed  to  this  continual  drudgery  in  the  world's 
service,  without  having  the  prospect  of  gaining  any  thing 
more  than  food  and  raiment  for  these  bodies,  upon  which 
worms  are  so  soon  to  riot,  how  could  a  man  with  his  heart 
in  heaven  endure  it  ?  But  when  upon  our  farms,  in  our 
workshops,  or  counting-rooms,  we  can  feel  that  we  are 
acquiring  the  means  of  alleviating  distress,  of  dissipating 
ignorance,  and  of  throwing  the  genial  rays  of  religion  all 
abroad ;  yea,  of  performing  a  service  which  Christ  will 
own  and  approve  when   we  meet   him  in  heaven ; — this 

*  1  Tim.  vi.  16. 


292      FURTHER  MOTIVES  TO  BENEFICENCE. 

changes  the  aspect  of  our  drudgery,  and  more  than  recon- 
ciles us  to  our  lot. 

It  is  owing,  probably,  to  the  limited  extent  to  which 
this^ty  and  privilege  is  understood  among  Christians, 
thatS)  many,  both  male  and  female,  as  soon  as  they  feel 
the  fervor  of  love  to  Christ  sigh  for  some  such  signal  ser- 
vice as  the  ministry,  or  a  missionary  life.  How  natural 
a^re  these  feelings,  when  the  calling  of  the  minister  or  mis- 
sionary is  the  only  one  whose  connection  with  doing  good 
IS  distinctly  perceived !  But  as  soon  as  their  eyes  are 
opened,  and  their  hearts  are  enlarged  to  see  and  feel  the 
bearing  upon  this  object  which  every  honorable  calling 
may  be  made  to  exert,  they  can  hardly  fail  to  be  as  well 
satisfied  with  it  in  their  most  religious  moments,  as  at  any 
other  time.  The  benevolent  designs  of  our  Saviour  in 
reference  to  this  world,  can  no  more  be  accomplished 
without  bringing  all  the  consistent  callings  of  this  life  into 
subordination  to  his  reign,  than  without  ministerial  and 
missionary  labor.  Let  this  be  felt,  and  all  piety  will  no 
longer  centre  in  a  single  point,  but  will  spread  its  healing 
influences  over  the  whole  extent  of  human  interests  and 
labors. 

One  thing  thou  lackest,  said  Christ  to  the  rich  young 
moralist,  go  thy  way,  sell  whatsoever  thou  hast,  and  give 
to  the  poor,  and  thou  shalt  have  treasure  in  heaven; 
thus  encouraging  him  to  hope  that  the  sacrifice  of  his 
money  upon  the  altar  of  beneficence  would  be  followed  by 
a  treasure  in  heaven.*     Sell  that  ye  have,  and  give  alms 

*  Mark  x.  21, 


FURTHER    MOTIVES    TO    BENEFICENCE.  293 

— provide  yourselves  bags  which  wax  not  old,  a  treasure 
in  the  heavens  that  faileth  not ;  where  no  thief  approach- 
eth,  neither  moth  corrupteth.*  But  when  thou  makest  a 
feast,  call  the  poor,  the  maimed,  the  lame,  the  blind,  and 
thou  shalt  be  blessed,  for  they  cannot  recompense  thee ; 
for  thou  shalt  be  recompensed  at  the  resurrection  of  the 
just.-f  Thus,  the  same  cheering  promise  is  often  repeated 
to  give  it  the  greatest  possible  assurance. 

And  our  Saviour  in  representing  the  final  scene  of 
judgment,  and  the  welcome  which  the  saints  shall  receive 
into  paradise,  makes  the  practice  of  beneficence  on  earth 
the  grand  evidence  of  their  being  worthy  of  so  great  a 
reward.  Then  shall  the  King  say  unto  them  on  his  right 
hand.  Come  ye  blessed  of  my  Father,  inherit  the  kingdom 
prepared  for  you  from  the  foundation  of  the  world  ;  for  I 
was  an  hungered,  and  ye  gave  me  meat — I  was  thirsty, 
and  ye  gave  me  drink — I  was  a  stranger  and  ye  took  me  in 
— naked,  and  ye  clothed  me — I  was  sick,  and  ye  visited  me 
— I  was  in  prison,  and  ye  came  unto  me.  Then  shall  the 
righteous  answer  him,  saying,  Lord,  when  saw  we  thee 
an  hungered,  and  fed  thee?  or  thirsty,  and  gave  thee 
drink  ?  When  saw  we  thee  a  stranger,  and  took  thee  in  1 
or  naked,  and  clothed  thee  ?  Or  when  saw  we  thee  sick, 
or  in  prison,  and  came  unto  thee  1  And  the  King  shall 
answer  and  say  unto  them.  Verily ,  I  say  unto  you,  inas- 
much as  ye  have  done  it  unto  the  least  of  these  my  breth- 
ren, ye  have  done  it  unto  me.  And  these  shall  enter 
into  life  eternal.  J     This  passage  sets  the  favorable  influ- 

♦  Luke  xii.  33.  t  Luke  xiv.  13,  14.  %  Matt.  xxv.  34—40. 

25* 


294       FURTHER  MOTIVES  TO  BENEFICENCE. 

ence  of  our  pious  gratuities  on  earth,  upon  our  future  des- 
tination, in  a  light  too  clear  to  admit  of  doubt,  or  to  need 
illustration.  What  a  field  is  thus  opened  before  us  in  the 
use  and  pursuit  of  earthly  treasure  !  From  this  point  of 
observation,  the  drudgery  of  worldly  callings,  so  far  from 
appearing  unsuitable  to  the  purity  and  spirituality  of  the 
Christian  character,  is  highly  honorable,  and  should  be 
assumed  with  the  same  feelings  of  devotion  as  more  spirit- 
ual labors.  If  properly  directed,  they  will  advance  the 
best  interests  of  human  society — will  be  connected  with 
the  fairest  hopes  of  the  church,  and  with  all  that  is  exalted 
and  glorious  in  the  rewards  of  heaven. 

How  therefore  can  we  longer  controvert  the  princi- 
ple in  theory,  or  resist  it  in  practice,  that  our  whole  duty 
cannot  be  done  with  our  money,  unless  we  act  upon  sys- 
tem in  expending  a  liberal  proportion  of  it,  without  the 
prospect  of  remuneration,*  in  purchasing  for  others  the 
same  advantages  which  we  need  for  ourselves?  How 
can  a  Christian  longer  think  of  retaining  his  standing  as 
such,  without  acting  in  accordance  with  the  Scriptures  on 
this  point  ?  How  can  churches  excuse  themselves  in  con- 
niving at  this  sin  ?  Till  this  matter  is  taken  up  and 
something  is  done  to  supercede  the  present  forced  mea- 
sures of  obtaining  the  contributions  of  the  public  to  bene- 
volent objects,  all  our  plans  of  doing  good  will  be  fettered, 
and  we  shall  be  in  danger  of  a  reaction  that  will  throw 
the  interests  of  the  church  and  the  cause  of  man  a  cen. 
tury  back  upon  the  dial  of  the  world. 

*  When  we  say,  without  the  prospect  of  remuneration,  we  mean, 
without  the  prospect  of  such  a  return  as  one  man  expects  from  ano- 
ther for  a  value  received. 


CHAPTER    XIX. 


General  remarks  upon  plans  of  benevolent  enterprise. 

It  will  be  seen  by  the  reader  of  the  foregoing  pages, 
that  the  design  has  been  to  set  the  duty  of  systematic  be- 
neficence in  the  light  of  reason  and  the  Scriptures,  and 
not  to  point  out  the  objects  towards  which  it  should  be 
exercised,  or  the  channels  through  which  it  should  flow. 
We  cannot  feel  satisfied,  however,  to  dismiss  the  subject 
without  appending  a  few  thoughts   upon   these  topics. 
Every  thing  depends  upon  having  the  direction  and  ap- 
propriation of  benevolent  funds,  such  as  to  secure  public 
confidence.     Whatever    conviction    may   exist    in    the 
church  of  the  duty  of  acting  on  the  principles  advocated 
in  these  pages,  it  could  hardly  be  expected  that  they 
would  gain  much   influence,  unless  the  channels  were 
open  and  every  thing  duly  prepared  to  give  pious  contri- 
butions an   economical   and  efficient  destination.     The 
permanency  of  such  contributions  depends  to  a  great  ex- 
tent upon  the  men  who  have  the  control  of  them,  upon 
the  measures  adopted,  and  the  results  which  they  are 
able  to  show. 

In  regard  to  the  objects  of  beneficence,  little  need  be 


296  OBJECTS   OF   BENEFICENCE. 

said.     We  have  taken  it  for  granted  in  the  preceding 
pages,  that  the  improvement  of  the  human  condition  phy- 
sically, intellectually,  and  morally,  is  the  point  to  which 
our  pious  gratuities  should  tend.       The  design  of  the 
ritual  dispensations  being  answered  in  Him  to  whose  com- 
ing they  prepared  the  way,  there  is  no  further  need  of 
sacrificing  treasure  upon  their  objects.     Censers  of  gold, 
and  incense  of  costly  admixture,  are  no  longer  necessary 
to  represent  the  odor  of  prayer,  or  the  sweet  influences  of 
heaven  upon  man  ;  nor  are  hecatombs   of  burning  victims 
required  to  teach  the  doctrine  of  remission  by  the  blood  of 
the  cross.     The  daylight  exhibition  which    is  now  made 
of  these  things,  has  superseded  the  necessity  of  contem- 
plating them  by  lunar  reflection.     Religion,   as  it  is  no  w 
revealed,  makes  no  requirement  of  heavy  expenditure  upon 
its  exterior  adorning.     If  a  people,  therefore,  choose  to  lay 
out  heavy  sums  of  money  upon  a  house  of  worship  and  its 
fixtures,  for  the  purpose  of  embellishing  their  town,  or  to 
keep  pace  with  the  refinements  of  art,  it  is  no  more  to  be 
set  to  the  account  of  religion  itself,  than  what  they  expend 
upon  pleasure  grounds,  monuments,  or  other  works  of 
ornament.     So  much  as  is  necessary  to  secure  accommo- 
dations for  the  worship  of  God — and  these  should  doubt- 
less be  fully  equal  to  the  general  style  of  architecture 
among  the  people  by  whom  they  are  provided — or  so 
much  as  results  from  a  pious  wish  to  attract  the  giddy 
throng  within  the  limit  of  the  preacher's  voice,  may  be 
set    to   the   account   of  religion.       Though,    as   before 
rem  arked,  it  is  by  no  means  a  charity,  when  a  man  and 
his  family  reap  in  their  own  person  the  consequent  benefit. 


OBJECTS   OF   BENEFICENCE.  297 

As  religion,  therefore,  makes  few  exactions  upon  us 
for  its  rituals  or  external  adorning,  it  leaves  us  the  more 
to  expend  upon  the  improvement  of  the  human  character 
and  condition.  This  is  the  point  to  which  every  gratuity 
and  every  rill  of  mercy  should  flow.  And,  indeed,  they 
ought  to  have  reference  chiefly  to  the  moral  and  intel- 
lectual character  of  men. 

The  prevalence  of  Christianity  has  wrought  so  great 
a  change  in  the  policy  of  governments,  that,  whereas 
before  its  establishment  they  made  no  provision  for  the 
alleviation  of  suffering  in  any  of  its  forms,  now  hospitals 
for  the  sick,  alms-houses  for  the  poor,  asylums  for  the 
insane,  personal  comfort  even  for  prisoners,  and  many  other 
plans  of  beneficence  are  subjects  of  legislative  patronage. 
It  is  judiciously  observed  by  a  certain  writer,  that  "  public 
charitlcis  and  benevolent  associations  for  the  gratuitous 
relief  of  every  species  of  distress,  are  peculiar  to  Christi- 
anity ;  no  other  system  of  civil  or  religious  polity  has  oru 
ginated  them  ;  they  form  its  brightest  praise  and  charac 
teristic  feature ;  an  order  of  benevolence  so  distinguished 
and  so  exalted,  looking  before  and  after,  could  no  more 
have  preceded  revelation,"  than  vegetation  the  genial 
warmth  of  heaven.  In  addition  to  the  care  and  patronage 
which  governments  exercise  over  plans  of  physical  allevi- 
ation, are  their  provisions  of  instruction  in  the  rudiments  of 
learning,  and  even  in  its  higher  departments.  And  we 
have  reason  to  expect  that  they  will  in  future  do  still  more 
in  this  way,  than  they  are  now  doing.  The  same  causes 
which  have  wrought  the  past  change  in  their  policy,  if 
allowed  to  operate  unchecked,  would  lead  to  vastly  more 


298  PLANS    OF    BENEVOLENT   EFFORT. 

efficient  measures  for  extending  education  and  elevating 
the  mass  of  mind. 

Are  rulers  so  stupid  as  to  expect  from  matter  laurels 
ttiore  unfading  than  from  the  undying  mind  ?  Is  not  the 
embellishing  of  intellect,  the  teaching  of  its  unfledged 
energies  to  soar  with  eagle  pinion  to  the  skies,  and  the 
lighting  up  with  the  beams  of  knowledge  every  hamlet  of 
a  nation,  a  more  illustrious  field  for  legislative  enactment, 
than  the  removing  of  obstructions  to  its  navigation  ;  the 
leveling  of  its  mountains  ;  the  exalting  of  its  valleys ;  or 
any  other  changes  which  it  may  effect  upon  its  material 
existence  ?  Oh,  when  will  governments  attain  their  pro- 
per elevation  as  the  means  of  unburdening  human 
nature  of  its  woes,  and  of  chiseling  out  its  obscured  veins 
of  intellectual  power  and  pre-eminence  ?  The  amount, 
however,  which  they  at  present  accomplish  in  this  depart- 
ment, leaves  the  church  at  liberty  to  be  more  select  in  her 
objects  of  gratuitous  expenditure,  confining  herself  more 
exclusively  to  the  work  of  moral  and  religious  improve- 
ment. This  is  her  appropriate  field,  the  one  assigned  her 
by  her  great  Founder,  though  she  should  by  no  means 
disdain  to  come  down,  when  occasion  calls,  to  the  level  of 
physical  alleviation,  and  to  the  most  menial  offices  for  the 
good  of  mankind. 

With  these  remarks  upon  the  object  of  our  pious  con. 
tributions  we  turn  our  attention  to  the  channels  through 
which  they  should  flow,  or  to  plans  of  prosecuting  the 
work  of  beneficence.  On  this  point  it  becomes  us  to 
speak  with  caution.  Far  be  it  from  us  to  disparage  those 
plans  which  now  claim  the  support  of  the  public.  They 


PLANS  OF  BENEVOLENT  EFFORT.  299 

are,  doubtless,  as  perfect  as  could  be  expected  from  the 
recency  of  their  origin,  and  the  circumstances  which  have 
attended  their  progress.  That  the  consequences  of  im- 
maturity, of  crude  conceptions  carried  into  practice  by 
inexperienced  hands,  and  of  a  too  general  absence  of 
system,  should  occasionally  show  themselves,  is  what 
nothing  short  of  a  miracle  could  have  prevented.  The 
danger  is  lest  these  evils,  unless  checked  in  the  infancy 
of  our  plans,  should  distort  and  enfeeble  their  maturity, 
and  thus  occasion  even  centuries  of  delay  to  the  consuma- 
tion  at  which  we  aim.  No  one  can  think  of  those  distor- 
tions, which,  immediately  after  the  death  of  the  apostles, 
appeared  in  the  Christian  church,  but  with  concern  for 
the  fate  of  every  new  scheme  of  benevolence  and 
mercy.  If  an  institution  so  perfect,  could  be  converted 
to  the  purpose  of  bringing  on  a  millenium  of  the  thickest 
darkness  that  ever  hung  over  the  human  mind,  what  may 
we  not  fear  fi'om  our  crude  and  imperfect  plans  ?  The 
leaders  of  our  benevolent  enterprises  should  not  forget 
that  they  act  for  posterity  ;  and  that  the  force  of  their 
example  will  do  as  much  to  perpetuate  the  errors  of  their 
system,  as  its  excellences.  Who  will  ever  occupy  so 
advantageous  a  position  for  the  correction  of  those  errors 
as  the  generation  with  whom  the  system  itself  took  its 
rise?  Let  us,  therefore,  labor,  pray,  and  exert  every 
endeavor  to  leave  with  posterity  a  pure  patrimony. 

It  is  but  of  late  that  the  present  benevolent  movement 
took  its  rise.  Yet,  so  great  was  the  force  of  the  causes 
from  which  it  originated,  that  it  has  already  acquired 
astonishing  momentum,  and   has  thrown  its  wake  into 


300  PLANS  OF  BENEVOLENT  EFFORT. 

every  section  of  the  globe.  It  was  long  after  the  reform- 
ation had  shed  its  light  upon  the  church,  and  she  had 
commenced  coming  up  out  of  the  wilderness,  before  she 
began  to  take  decided  measures  either  for  the  alleviation 
of  suffering  or  the  propagation  of  her  faith.  What  with 
warding  off  the  attacks  of  Rome  without,  and  quelling 
the  turbulent  elements  of  schism  within,  she  had,  for  a 
century  or  two  after  that  period,  little  remaining  vigor  or 
leisure  to  embark  in  plans  of  conquest.  The  materials, 
however,  were  collecting — by  the  study  of  the  Scriptures 

by  the  publications  of  pious  men — by  the  example  of  a 

few  such  spirits  as  Baxter,  Whitefield,  and  others — by  the 
advance  of  the  church  in  knowledge  and  holiness,  and  by 
the  general  march  of  mind  in  the  career  of  dignity  and 
improvement ;  and  as  soon  as  the  favorable  crisis  came, 
they  broke  out  into  our  present  crude  and  unfinished  forms 
of  benevolence.  The  origin  of  this  movement  cannot 
perhaps,  be  better  illustrated  than  by  comparing  it  to 
those  convulsions  which  might  be  supposed  to  occur  in  the 
material  universe.  It  is  as  if  the  elements  of  combustion 
collected  in  the  heart  of  one  of  the  planets  in  undefined 
quantities,  should  suddenly  explode,  upheaving  and  dis- 
parting its  solid  mass  into  a  thousand  formless  parts 
flying  in  their  random  courses  through  immensity,  till 
each  should  be  brought  to  its  proper  bearing  in  the  scale 
of  nature's  forces,  and,  clothed  again  with  verdure  and 
life,  should  describe  its  regular  and  appropriate  orbit 
through  the  boundless  ether.  Thus,  the  elements  of  the 
present  benevolent  movement  had  for  ages  been  collect- 
ing under  the  solid  surface  of  society,  till,  becoming  ripe 


PLANS  -OF  BENEVOLENT  EFFORT.  301 

for  combuslion,  all  that  was  needed  to  bring  on  an  explosion 
was  the  flinty  contact  of  such  spirits  as  Schwartz,  Bucha- 
nan,  or  Carey,  and  thus  to  throw  the  crude  masses  far  and 
wide.  The  work  of  regulating  their  motions,  and  cover- 
ing  them  with  order  and  beauty,  requires  time  for  its  ac- 
complishment. None  but  the  unthinking  can  regard  our 
present  systems  of  charity  otherwise  than  in  the  light  of 
an  experiment,  to  be  altered  and  matured  by  the  force  of 
future  circumstances,  till  they  shall  have  attained  the 
ideal  of  earthly  perfection. 

They  are  thrown  out  by  a  force,  that,  no  longer  able 
to  remain  dormant,  must  give  being  to  some  sort  of 
movement ;  but  thanks  to  God,  the  powers  we  believe  are 
at  work,  that  will  in  the  end  direct  this  movement  into 
the  wisest  and  most  beneficent  orbits.  Those  who  decry 
It  altogether  because  it  is  intermixed  with  eccentricity  and 
imperfection,  might  bettef  vent  their  scorn  at  the  appa- 
rent irregularity  of  bodies  moving  under  the  force  of 
nature's  laws ;  or  complain  that  a  great  river  does  not  at 
once  arrange  its  deposites  into  the  fairest,  most  seemly 
and  most  elevated  country  in  the  world.  The  boasted 
strength  of  these  Sanballats  and  Tobiahs  will  end  in  im- 
potence, and  their  puny  efforts  will  go  down  to  the  scorn 
of  posterity.  He  that  sitteth  in  the  heavens  shall  laugh  ; 
the  Lord  shall  have  them  in  derision.  That  intelligence 
is  advanced,  morals  improved,  and  piety  increased  by  the 
present  benevolent  efforts,  at  a  rate  beyond  all  parallel 
since  the  first  age  of  the  church,  notwithstanding  the  im- 
maturity of  our  plans,  is  what  no  impartial  mind  can  fail 
of  discovering. 

26 


302  DIVISION    OF   TOPICS, 

It  may  be  impossible  to  form  in  anticipation,  plans 
that  will  be  adapted  to  the  varying  circumstances  of  real 
life.  It  is  like  attempting  to  anticipate  the  inequalities  of 
nature,  in  the  formation  of  machinery  that  must  prove 
useless,  if  our  anticipations  are  not  correct.  In  this,  as 
in  some  branches  of  the  arts,  instead  of  working  by  gen- 
eral rules,  we  must  content  ourselves  to  cut  and  fit. 
Still  there  are  certain  principles  of  action  that  may  be 
settled  beforehand  as  the  outlines  of  the  picture,  leaving 
its  nicer  shades  and  minuter  features  to  be  filled  vp  accord- 
ing to  circumstances.  It  is  in  reference  to  these  broad 
principles,  therefore,  that  our  present  suggestions  will  be 
made.  The  topics  upon  which  we  propose  to  touch,  are 
the  origination  of  benevolent  funds — manner  of  collecting 
them — principle  of  concentration — and  the  executive  man' 
agement  of  such  funds. 


SECTION    I. 


Origination  of  Benevolent  Funds. 


In  regard  to  originating  the  funds  of  the  church,  the 
true  principle  is  to  provide  for  it  in  the  manner  of  her 
organization.     This  may  be  thought  impossible  since  the 
church  is  not  a   civil  polity,  and  consequently  has   no 
power  to  control  the  management  of  estates.     But  this 
objection  is  founded  in  mistake  ;  for  though  she  is  not 
made  a  judge  or  a  divider  over  the  temporal  affairs  of 
men,  yet  she  has  a  right  to  prescribe  her  own  terms  of 
membership.     And  if  she  cannot  force  men  to  a  compli- 
ance  with  those  terms  ;  still,  when  they  have  once  com- 
plied from  their  own  choice,  she  can  then  enforce  their 
assumed  obligations  on  pain  of  a  separation  from  her  fel- 
lowship.    It  is  with  this  as  with  every  thing  else,  the 
obligation  is  not  legal,  but  religious— not  constrained,  but 
voluntary.    If  her  members  break  the  Sabbath,  withdraw 
from  her  assemblies,  or   commit  any  misdemeanor,  the 
church  can  do  no  more  as  such,  than  simply  to  separate 
them  from  her  fellowship.     The  rest,  she  must  leave  to 
the  civil  authorities.     And  as  much  as  this,  she  can  do  in 


304  ORIGINATION  OF 

relation  to  those  who  will  adopt  no  system  of  beneficence 
in  the  use  of  earthly  substance. 

Ecclesiastical  organizations,  to  be  conformed  to  the 
primitive  model,  and  to  the  genius  of  Christianity,  must 
be  constructed,  not  merely  with  a  view  to  the  spiritual 
edification  of  their  own  members,  but  for  aggressive 
movement  upon  the  empire  of  darkness.  Christ,  the 
Captain  of  our  salvation,  conducts  his  people  to  their  final 
glorification  through  contested  ground,  where  their  indi. 
vidual  force  may  be  brought  into  concentrated  action  in 
extending,  still  further  and  further,  the  limits  of  his  own 
dominion  upon  the  precincts  of  sin  and  death.  Their  con- 
version to  himself  was  designed  for  the  double  purpose  of 
their  own  salvation,  and  that  of  a  world  lying  in  wicked- 
ness. Had  not  the  latter  object  been  associated  with  the 
former,  their  translation  to  more  congenial  climes,  would, 
doubtless,  have  been  simultaneous  with  their  conversion. 
That  there  are  Christians,  therefore,  to  be  organized  into 
churches  left  upon  this  battle-field  of  the  two  worlds,  is 
an  indication,  not  to  be  mistaken,  that  God  designs  that 
they  should  come  into  some  system  of  concentrated  and 
aggressive  movement  upon  those  influences  by  which  so 
many  millions  of  their  race  are  enslaved  and  doomed  to 
hell.  The  church  is  an  illuminated  city  upon  a  hill  to 
irradiate  the  present  territory  of  darkness  with  truth, 
virtue, 'peace,  and  good  will  towards  men  ;  the  salt  of  the 
earth,  embodying  all  the  conservative  principles  which 
Heaven  has  lodged  among  the  moral  elements  of  this 
world.  How  then  can  she  act  in  keeping  with  her  cha- 
racter, or  the  design  of  her  Lord,  without  an  organization 


'  BENEVOLENT  FUNDS.  305 

adapted  to  bring  into  effective  operation  all  her  resources 
of  mind,  and  heart,  and  body,  upon  the  single  object  of 
subjecting  the  world  to  her  dominion  ?  How  can  she  re- 
ceive to  her  bosom  any  but  such  as  are  willing  to  give 
pledges  of  making  her  own  advancement,  or  the  salvation 
of  a  lost  world,  a  paramount  object  in  their  intellectual 
efforts,  in  their  moral  influence,  and  in  their  physical 
labors  ?  Her  hopes  of  ultimate  triumph  over  the  nations 
of  the  earth  will  prove  as  baseless  as  the  fabric  of  a 
dream,  till  the  whole  company  of  the  redeemed  thus  sub- 
ject their  earthly  existence  to  the  brighter  and  holier 
sanctions  of  their  heavenly  calling. 

If  the  church  were  to  require  at  least  so  much  as  the 
adoption  of  a  liberal  system  of  beneficence  in  the  use  of 
earthly  substance  as  a  condition  of  membership,  it  would 
naturally  lead  to  frequent  exhibitions  of  the  reasons  of  the 
duty.  These  reasons  would  be  spread  out  before  candi- 
dates for  membership ;  and  thus  conscience  would  be 
brought  to  bear  upon  the  subject,  a  subject  which  she  has 
hitherto  hardly  dared  approach.  By  inspecting  the  con- 
duct of  members,  also,  whose  benefactions  are  manifestly 
disproportioned  to  their  means,  she  would  still  further 
arouse  attention  to  the  subject,  and  set  the  sin  of  such  dis- 
proportion in  their  true  light.  In  this  way  a  public  con- 
science on  the  subject  will  be  created  in  the  church, 
which  her  members  would  be  as  fearful  of  violating,  as 
they  now  are  to  break  the  Sabbath,  or  to  be  guilty  of 
other  misdemeanors. 

A  general  effort  should  also  be  made  to  exhibit  the 
principles  of  the  duty  from  the  pulpit,  and  by  every  other 
26* 


306 


ORIGINATION    OF 


consistent  means,  that  thus  it  may  attain  in  our  view  its 
proper  standing  in  the  list  of  our  obligations.  By  such 
exertions  rigorously  prosecuted,  we  might  hope  to  produce 
a  constant  flow  into  the  treasury  of  the  church  of  the  ade- 
quate means  of  doing  good. 

In  the  absence  of  such  a  spontaneous  and  regular  sup- 
ply, those  pious  and  enterprising  men,  who  could  not  rest 
without  attempting  something  for  the  good  of  mankind, 
have  contrived  such  plans  for  creating  the  means  as  expe- 
dience has  suggested.  The  public  mind  uninstructed  on^ 
the  subject  of  giving,  and  no  funds  at  command  to  carry 
forward  their  benevolent  designs,  they  have  been  forced 
to  divide  their  exertions  between  the  two  objects  of  crea- 
ting the  means,  and  appropriating  them  to  the  work  of 
human  improvement.  And  of  the  two,  it  may  be  hard  to 
say  which  has  proved  the  more  difficult  task.  Their  situ- 
ation has  been  an  arduous  one ;  and  whatever  defects 
may  have  accompanied  their  movements,  yet,  being  to  a 
certain  extent  the  result  of  a  defective  organization  of  the 
churches,  and  the  want  of  instruction  on  the  subject  of  giv- 
ing, and  hence  unavoidable,  a  merciful  God  has  seemed 
to  regard  them  with  a  lenient  eye ;  and  has  made  them 
the  means  of  greater  good,  perhaps,  than  has  been 
accomplished  by  almost  any  other  body  of  men  since  the 
first  age  of  Christianity. 

Still,  if  the  same  men  who  have  been  chiefly  concern- 
ed in  our  benevolent  operations  for  the  last  half  century, 
could  have  had  the  money  which  they  have  actually 
receifed,  poured  into  their  hands  by  the  spontaneous  out- 
burstinga  of  a  charitable  principle  in  the  churches,  so  that 


BENEVOLENT    FUNDS.  307 

they  should  have  been  left  free  from  the  care  and  expense 
of  collecting  it,  how  much  more  good  might  they  have 
done  !  And  if  it  was  the  duty  of  those  with  whom  this 
money  originated,  to  give,  in  obedience  to  their  call,  it 
was  doubtless  their  duty  to  give  without  that  call.  The 
object  of  a  call  upon  the  church  for  the  means  of  doing 
good  is  not  to  create  the  obligation  of  bestowing,  but  to 
enforce  an  obligation  which  stands  on  a  basis  entirely 
independent  of  the  call  itself  If  the  church  understood 
her  duty,  therefore,  and  were  disposed  to  do  it,  much  of 
the  labor  of  agencies  would  be  superseded.  That  it 
would  not  be  wholly  superseded,  however,  we  have  rea- 
son to  believe,  since  agencies  for  the  collection  of  benevo- 
lent  funds  began  with  Paul  and  his  coadjutors,  and  have 
always  been  connected  more  or  less  with  the  prosperous 
days  of  the  church.  But  they  might  be  confined  within 
narrow  limits,  and  directed  chiefly  to  the  communication 
of  intelligence,  if  a  benevolent  principle  could  be  esta" 
blished  among  Christians,  as  the  fountain  from  which  all 
their  charitable  contributions  should  flow.  Hence,  the 
importance  of  seeking  to  establish  such  a  principle,  and  of 
making  the  serving  of  Christ  by  the  liberal  contribution  of 
money  for  the  advancement  of  his  cause,  a  prerequisite  to 
membership  in  the  churches. 

The  course  which  we  have  hitherto  been  under  a  sort 
of  necessity  of  pursuing,  is  but  too  much  like  that  of  a 
man  who  erects  a  splendid  array  of  hydraulic  machinery 
in  a  ravine  where  no  water  exists,  merely  because  he  has 
convinced  himself  that  it  is  a  place  which  some  river 
ought  to  select  for  its  channel.     When  his  machinery  is 


308  ORIGINATION    OF 

once  up,  he  exercises  all  the  power  of  which  he  is  master, 
to  force  the  streams  in  its  neighborhood,  to  concentrate 
their  waters  in  that  ravine  for  its  benefit.  Thus  enter- 
prising individuals  form  plans  of  benevolence  that  cannot 
be  prosecuted  short  of  fifty  or  a  hundred  thousand  dollars 
a  year ;  when  perhaps  there  is  scarcely  a  dollar  flowing 
in  that  direction.  But  when  their  names  become  identi- 
fied with  the  enterprise,  and  their  hearts  enlisted  in  it, 
they  will  overturn  every  stone  in  the  land,  but  that  they 
will  find  the  means  of  carrying  it  forward.  Agents  are 
sent  out,  not  always  of  characters  the  most  discreet,  who 
cry  up  the  object  to  the  stars ;  represent  it  as  casting 
every  collateral  enterprise  into  the  shade,  and  by  pulling 
upon  every  string  succeed,  perhaps,  to  collect  barely  suf- 
ficient to  keep  the  cause  from  sinking. 

The  temptations  to  corruption  in  such  an  agency  are 
almost  too  much  for  any  human  being.  The  agent,  con- 
scious that  his  reputation,  and  perhaps  his  living,  depend 
to  a  great  extent  upon  the  amount  which  he  brings  into 
the  treasury  of  his  employers ;  and  finding  an  almost 
universal  reluctance  on  the  part  of  the  people  to  meet  the 
demand,  one  having  this  and  another  that  excuse,  sets 
himself  at  work  to  make  out  as  glowing  a  story  concern- 
ing his  object  as  possible  ;  and  to  make  it  appropriate  to 
the  various  classes  upon  whom  he  has  to  operate,  he  now 
touches  the  pride, — now  the  sympathy, — now  the  emula- 
tion,— ^now  the  fear  of  a  coming  judgment, — now  the  van- 
ity,— and  now  the  self-respect  of  his  auditors  ;  and  watch- 
ing  his  opportunity,  when  the  crisis  comes,  he  causes  the 
boxes  or  cards  to  fly  through  the  house,  lest  a  moment's 


BENEVOLENT    FUNDS.  309 

reflection  should  dispel  the  magic  of  his  wand,  and  thus 
diminish  the  amount  of  the  contribution.  At  such  an  ap- 
peal for  money  infidelity  sits  in  the  pulpit,  and  the  devil 
laughs  in  the  gallery.  The  consequence  is,  that  the  peo- 
ple, not  being  instructed  in  the  duty  of  giving,  and  having 
no  principle  of  action,  feel  like  a  man  after  a  fit  of  intox- 
ication, vexed  at  their  own  excitement,  and  hence  they 
begrudge  the  money  which  it  has  caused  them  to  bestow. 
Far  be  it  from  us  to  represent  such  as  the  universa 
course  of  agents  ;  we  only  say  that  they  have  too  many 
temptations  to  such  a  course,  and  it  is  but  too  often  pur- 
sued ;  and  unless  a  timely  remedy  is  applied,  a  reac- 
tion is  to  be  feared  that  will  throw  the  heaven-born  cause 
of  charity,  a  century  in  the  rear.  There  is  too  much  art 
and  contrivance  in  such  a  method  of  originating  benevo- 
lent funds  to  be  adapted  to  nature.  The  public  will  not 
long  endure  to  be  thus  jaded,  teazed,  and  hood-winked. 
We  say  these  things,  not  in  a  tone  of  complaint,  but  be- 
cause the  cause  of  benevolence  is  too  dear  to  our  hearts, 
to  admit  of  our  being  silent  to  what  threatens  to  do  it  so 
serious  an  injury. 

The  church  ought  to  be  so  instructed  in  the  duty  of 
honoring  the  Lord  with  her  substance,  that  pecuniary 
gratuities  for  the  good  of  the  world  should  enter  into  the 
ordinary  calculations  of  life  among  her  members ;  and 
then  the-  temptations  to  such  ill-judged  measures  will  no 
longer  exist.  If  there  are  streams  under  ground  in  a 
country  high  above  the  level  of  the  ocean,  it  may  be  an 
object  of  enterprize  to  obstruct  their  subterranean  passa- 
ges, and  to  open  channels  for  them  to  the  upper  world,  that 


310  ORIGINATION  OF  FUNDS. 

they  may  flow  over  the  soil  to  enrich,  refresh,  and  beau- 
tify its  living  tenants.  Such  is  our  work  in  regard  to  the 
origination  of  benevolent  funds.  There  is  money  enough 
in  the  hands  of  pious  men  for  all  our  objects,  that  is  now 
left  to  flow  through  the  subterranean  channels  of  this 
world.  All  we  have  to  do  is  to  afford  them  such  instruc 
tion  in  the  duty  of  giving  upon  system,  and  to  effect  such 
a  change  in  the  organization  of  the  churches,  that  these 
funds  shall  be  spontaneously  poured  into  the  treasuries  of 
mercy  and  good  will.  And  if  they  cannot  be  obtained 
in  this  way,  it  is  questionable  whether  the  world  would 
not  suffer  more  by  obtaining  them  in  any  other,  than  it 
would  by  doing  without  them  altogether.  Shall  we  sacri- 
fice the  interests  of  religion  within  our  own  borders,  for 
the  sake  of  getting  money  to  promote  them  in  foreign 
lands  ? 


SECTION    II. 


Manner  of  collecting  Benevolent  Funds. 

When  the  above  principle  for  originating  the  means 
of  doing  good  comes  to  be  established,  it  will  be  an  easy 
task  to  determine  the  manner  of  collecting  them.  There 
is  little  difficulty  in  taking  advantage  of  the  face  of  a 
country  to  change  the  bed  of  a  river  that  flows  through 
it,  compared  with  that  of  finding  the  sources  of  one  that 
does  not  exist.  The  difficulty  of  collecting  under  the 
present  system  arises  chiefly  from  the  fact,  that  the  one 
who  undertakes  it  has  to  originate  what  he  collects.  He 
is  both  assessor  and  tax-gatherer — has  to  awaken  the  feel- 
ing of  obligation  to  give,  as  well  as  gather  up  the  results 
of  that  feeling,  when  it  is  awakened.  It  is  owing  to  this 
that  qualities  of  such  a  peculiar  character  are  necessary 
to  ensure  success  in  an  agency.  That  is  no  calling  for  a 
man  who  is  not  adroit  in  touching  the  nice  springs  of 
action,  or  who  is  ungifted  with  that  witchery  of  persua- 
tion,  which  ensures  for  the  impulses  of  one's  own  mind 
corresponding  impulses  in  the  mind  of  others.  He  must 
be»'eagle-eyed  in  detecting  the  ruling  passion  of  those  upon 


312  MANNER  OF  COLLECTING 

whom  he  would  operate,  that  he  may  take  advantage  of 
it  in  unclenching   the    avaricious  passions,   and  causing 
at  least  a  temporary  suspension   of  their  power.     And 
should   he    perform   his  office  even  with  an  angel's  skill, 
those  passions  no  sooner  resume  their  hold,  than  he  be- 
comes  an  object   of    abhorrent   recollections,    and    ten 
thousand  curses  are  his  only  earthly  reward,  perhaps,  for 
his  self-denying  labors.     Though  many  an  agent  may 
have  had   a  better  fate  than  we  here  assign  him,  yet 
the  number  is  not  small  whose  experience  will  enable 
them  to  testify  to  the  reality  of  the  evils  which  we  depict. 
Hence,  there  is  a  wrong  either  on  the  part  of  those  who 
embark  in  enterprises  of  benevolence,  or  in  the  feeling  and 
sentiment  of  the  religious  public.     It  must  be  manifest, 
therefore,  that  a  change  is  required ;  but  what  it  is,  or 
to  how  it  is  be  effected,  are  problems  of  difficult  solution. 
We  can  point  out  a  course  which  we  think  adapted  to 
reason  and  Scripture  ;   but  how  to  bring  those  who  seem 
to  be  devoid  of  the  one,  and  destitute  of  confidence  in  the 
other,  to  pursue  it,  we  cannot  pretend  to  decypher.     This 
is,  for  the  churches  to  make  out  their  own  gratuities  with 
only  so  much  foreign  aid  as  may  be  necessary  to  enable 
them  to  distribute  them  judiciously ;  to  inspire  them  with 
motives  to  a  consistent  liberality ;  or  occasionally,  per- 
haps, to  assist  them  in  making  the  collection  itself.     Such 
appears  to  have  been  the  course  of  the  primitive  churches. 
The  apostles  brought  objects  of  beneficence  to  their  view, 
either  in  person,  or  by  letter,  urged  upon  them  the  motives 
to  liberality,  and  sometimes  sent  brethren  to  assist  in  col- 
lecting their  bounty.     At  other  times  they  were  doubtless 


BENEVOLENT   FUNDS.  313 

left  to  make  up  their  bounty  without  foreign  aid.  This 
would  appear  from  the  apology  which  the  apostle  makes 
to  the  Corinthian  church  for  sending  brethren  among 
them  to  assist  in  this  service.*  He  informs  them  that  he 
did  it,  not  because  he  suspected  their  willingness  to  meet 
the  call,  but  because  he  feared  that  they  might  not  be 
ready  to  do  it ;  and  so,  hie  boasting  of  their  liberality 
should  be  found  in  vain.  Lest  haply  they  of  Macedonia 
come  with  me  and  find  you  unprepared,  we  (that  we  say 
not  you)  should  be  ashamed  in  this  same  confident  boast- 
ing. Such  an  apology  would  not  have  been  made,  had  it 
been  a  uniform  practice  with  Paul  to  send  brethren  to 
assist  the  churches  to  collect  their  pious  gratuities.  Little 
foreign  aid  would  be  necessary  in  the  work  of  collection, 
if  the  churches  were  properly  instructed  in  their  duty,  and 
a  consistent  beneficence  were  provided  for  in  the  terms  of 
their  organization. 

We  should,  no  doubt,  find  it  to  our  advantage  to 
improve  upon  the  apostle's  hint,  to  make  our  collections 
on  the  first  day  of  the  week.  The  provision  of  a  chest 
like  that  which  Jehoiada  placed  beside  the  altar,  to  receive 
Ihe  pious  gratuities  of  the  people  who  came  into  the  tem- 
ple, added  to  the  present  furniture  of  the  Christian  sanctu- 
ary,  to  receive  the  portion  in  money  or  written  pledges, 
which  each  member  of  the  church  may  have  consecrated 
to'  God  from  the  income  of  the  week,  that  thus  his  alms 
might  go  up  with  his  prayers,  however  it  might  be  regard- 
ed by  the  fastidious  and  unthinking,  would  seem  to  be  the 

^  *  2:Cor.  ix. 

27 


314  MANNER  OF  COLLECTING 

most  natural  and  appropriate  method  that  could  be  de. 
vised  for  bringing  our  offerings  into  the  store-house.  To 
present  thus  regularly  the  means  of  alleviating  wo,  of 
dispelling  ignorance,  and  of  sending  abroad  those  influen- 
ces by  which  the  world  is  to  be  blessed  and  saved,  and 
in  this  way  to  give  a  tangible  form  to  our  mutual  devo- 
tions, would  be  a  spectacle  on  which  the  eye  of  benignant 
Heaven  could  not  fail  to  loak  with  approbation.  To  think 
of  the  millions  who  have  passed  from  death  unto  life  visit- 
ing  the  sanctuary  every  Lord's  day,  with  offerings  of  this 
substantial  character  in  their  hands,  to  aid  the  triumph  of 
his  cause  who  died  for  them  and  rose  again,  to  effect  the 
salvation  of  those  who  are  now  dead  in  sin,  as  they  once 
were,  must  produce  in  every  well  regulated  mind,  feelings 
of  unspeakable  suitableness,  and  unquaUfied  approval. 
The  celestial  messenger,  whom  the  prayers  and  alms  of 
Cornelius  won  from  his  seat  in  heaven,  with  his  shining 
associates,  would  often  seek  their  pastime  among  the 
scenes  of  earth,  did  such  spectacles  exist  to  attract  their 
flight  this  way.  Then,  infidelity  would  be  forced  to  con- 
fess that  the  sacrifices  of  Christianity  for  the  good  of  the 
world  are  no  longer  an  ideal  picture,  confined  to  the  fic- 
tions in  which  the  history  of  its  Founder  is  invested  ;  but 
that,  however  unsubstantial  may  be  the  cause,  the  effect 
is  real. 

Weekly  contributions  have  this  advantage,  that  they 
keep  the  subject  of  charity  as  continually  in  view  as  our 
prayers.  It  will  also  enable  us  to  set  the  Lord  before 
our  face  in  all  our  plans  for  acquiring  or  expending 
worldly  property.     The  longer  it  is  neglected,  the  more 


BENEVOLENT  FUNDS.  315 

sordid  we  become,  and  the  more  unwilling  to  give  the 
claims  of  humanity  due  regard  in  the  use  of  what  God 
bestows  upon  us.  A  man  should  no  more  think  of  paying 
off  his  religious  gratuities  in  the  gross,  than  he  would 
think  of  offering  his  prayers  in  this  manner.  The  fre- 
quent  repetition  of  them  will  afford  the  greater  security 
for  the  performaqce  of  the  duty.  If  it  be  neglected  some 
months,  it  will  run  the  hazard  of  a  final  neglect.  Not 
only  so,  it  is  by  weekly  contributions  alone  that  any  thing 
like  a  fair  proportion  can  be  secured  between  the  donation 
and  the  ability  of  the  donor.  The  income  of  a  large  portion 
of  church  members,  especially  in  the  case  of  those  with 
whom  it  depends  upon  direct  efforts,  is  subject  to  weekly 
variations,  and  their  gratuities  to  be  "  as  God  prospers 
them,"  must  undergo  the  same  variations.  Besides,  this 
plan  will  lead  to  habits  of  economy,  which  they  could 
hardly  expect  to  acquire  by  any  other  course.  It  will 
turn  many  a  dollar,  that  would  otherwise  be  wasted  upon 
trifling  gratifications,  into  channels  of  mercy.  Hence,  by 
retrenching  upon  that  part  of  our  expenses,  which  is  of 
the  least  use,  we  should  perhaps  make  the  gratuity  a 
positive  benefit  to  our  pecuniary  interests.  And  the 
whole  amount  of  our  charity  for  one  year,  divided  into 
fifty-two  parts,  and  given  on  as  many  occasions,  would 
doubtless  be  attended  by  a  less  reduction  to  our  income, 
than  half  the  amount  given  only  once  in  the  year.  This 
principle  is  true  in  theory,  and  will  be  found  so  in  practice. 
We  all  have  many  little  ways  of  letting  money  slip  from 
us  that  might  be  prevented,  if  the  consciousness  that  we 
are  only  stewards  of  what  we  possess  were  ever  present 


316  MANNER  OF  COLLECTING 

to  our  minds,  and  we  had  a  vivid  sense  of  those  wants 
and  woes  which  it  might  help  us  to  relieve.  And  even 
the  bare  consciousness  that  we  are  pledged  to  give  away 
one,  two,  or  five  dollars  in  a  few  days,  will  lead  to  cau- 
tion in  the  use  of  our  money,  and  so  our  habits  of  charity 
will  probably  produce  a  saving,  rather  than  a  loss  to  our 
estates.* 

And  the  notion  that  it  is  unsuitable  to  have  pecuniary 
considerations  come  to  view  on  the  Lord's  day,  is  owing 
to  the  carnal  habit  of  disassociating  them  from  religion 
itself.  But,  as  we  serve  God  with  our  voices,  with  our 
time,  with  our  attention,  with  our  eyes  and  our  ears  on 
that  day,  why  may  we  not  serve  him  also  with  our 
money  ?  The  apostle  had  no  such  nice  fears  of  obtru- 
ding worldly  matters  upon  the  sanctity  of  the  Lord's 
day,  by  making  it  the  day  of  pecuniary  offerings.  Now 
concerning  the  collection  of  the  saints,  are  his  words, — as 
I  have  given  order  to  the  churches  of  Galatia,  even  so  do 
ye.  Upon  the  Jirst  day  of  the  week  let  every  one  of  you 
lay  by  him  in  store,  as  God  has  prospered  hinij  that  there 
be  no  gathering  when  I  come.  And  when  I  come,  whom- 
soever ye  shall  approve  by  your  letters,  them  will  I  send 
to  bring  your  liberality  unto  Jerusalem.     And  if  it  be 

*  The  course  here  marked  out,  is  better  suited  to  the  poor  and 
the  middle  classes  in  regard  to  wealth,  to  which  the  greater  part  of 
church-members  belong,  than  to  those  whose  extreme  opulence 
makes  it  their  duty  to  support  a  missionary,  or  carry  forward  any 
other  enterprise  of  benevolence,  out  of  their  own  resources.  The 
weekly  offering  on  the  part  of  these  rich  brethren,  of  their  tens,  their 
twenties,  or  their  fifties,  need  not  foreclose  the  giving  of  their  thou- 
sands on  rare  occasions. 


BENEVOLENT  FUNDS.  317 

meet  that  I  go  also,  they  shall  go  with  me.  These 
instructions,  it  would  seem,  were  given  a  considerable 
length  of  time  before  it  was  expected  that  the  gra- 
tuity of  the  Corinthian  church  would  be  made  out. 
The  apostle,  therefore,  directed  them  to  set  about  it 
immediately,  that  thus  the  necessity  of  making  the 
collection  after  his  arrival  might  be  superseded.  He, 
doubtless,  preferred  to  have  the  time  that  he  should  spend 
among  them  for  other  objects,  than  the  collection  of  their 
gratuity  for  the  poor  at  Jerusalem.  To  facilitate  them 
in  this  work,  he  directs  them  to  lay  by  them  in  store,  or 
to  deposite  in  a  common  treasury,  on  the  Jirst  day  of  each 
week,  an  amount  proportioned  to  the  gains  which  each  of 
them  may  have  enjoyed  from  his  business  on  the  previous 
week,  that  in  this  way  the  whole  amount  might  be  ready 
against  his  arrival.  And  then,  he  would  send  their  offer, 
ing  to  Jerusalem,  by  whomsoever  they  might  think  pro- 
per to  entrust  with  the  service,  and  if  it  should  bo 
thought  best  for  him  to  go  also,  he  would  take  them  with 
him. 

Now,  why  do  not  these  instructions  concerning  the 
manner  of  collecting  pious  and  charitable  offerings,  con- 
tain the  force  of  law  upon  the  Christian  church  ?  They 
had  first  been  given  to  the  churches  of  Galatia,  which 
was  a  province  of  considerable  extent ;  and  are  now 
repeated  to  the  church  of  Corinth.  Hence  they  must 
have  been  generally  acted  upon  by  the  primitive  churches. 
They  were  delivered  in  the  same  tone  of  authority  for 
which  all  the  apostolic  decrees  are  distinguished  ;  they 
settle  principles  founded  in  reason — that  gratuities  should 
27* 


318  COLLECTING  BENEVOLENT  FUNDS. 

often  be  repeated,  and  should  be  proportioned  to  the  various 
success  of  those  by  whom  they  are  presented  ;  and  why 
they  are  not  more  generally  followed  by  the  Christian 
church  of  the  present  age,  in  making  her  pious  collec- 
tions, does  indeed  appear  singular.  Thus,  the  Scriptures 
concur  with  the  dictates  of  common  sense  in  rendering  it 
obligatory  upon  Christians  to  bring  with  their  weekly 
prayers  to  the  sanctuary,  their  weekly  gratuities,  to 
improve  the  character  and  condition  of  a  lost  world.  Let 
the  churches  adopt  such  a  method  of  collecting  the  funds 
of  benevolence,  and  much  of  the  present  trouble  and  ex- 
pense of  agencies  would  be  superseded ;  while  each 
would  be  continually  pouring  forth  its  rill  to  swell  the 
river  of  mercy  which  is  destined  to  flow  to  all  lands. 


SECTION    III 


The  principle  of  concentration  as  applied  to  charitable  contributions. 

The  propriety  of  this  principle  in  this  apph'cation  of  it 
is  too  well  understood,  perhaps,  to  require  remarks.  The 
question  is,  whether  a  man  who  undertakes  to  act  upon 
a  liberal  system  of  beneficence  shall  do  it  wholly  by 
himself,  giving  only  to  those  objects  of  want  that  come 
under  his  immediate  observation  ;  or  whether  he  shall 
do  it  in  concert  with  others,  by  putting  his  gratuities  into 
a  common  treasury  with  theirs,  to  be  subject  to  the  ma- 
nagement of  such  individuals  as  they  may  mutually 
agree  to  entrust  with  the  concern.  The  same  reason  for 
concentration  exists  in  this  case,  as  for  the  union  of 
Christians  in  churches.  A  man  may,  perhaps,  lead  a 
life  of  religion,  who  refrains  from  all  connection  with 
other  Christians  ;  but  would  he  be  as  likely  to  do  it  ?  If 
he  should,  would  not  his  good  be  confined  to  himself,  or 
circumscribed  by  limits  too  narrow  to  be  of  essential 
service  to  the  world  ? 

If  all  Christians  were  to  act  on  this  principle,  the 
design  of  our  Saviour  in  organizing  the  church  would 


320  PRINCIPLE  OF  CONCENTRATION 

fail,  and  incalculable  benefits  would  be  lost  to  mankind. 
They  could  no  more  conquer  the  world  to  their  faith,  or 
even  the  smallest  portion  of  it,  in  such  a  disconnected 
state,  than  an  unorganized  mass  of  men  could  subdue  a 
well-disciplined  army.  In  like  manner,  to  give  bread  to 
this  hungry  man,  and  lodging  to  that  stranger;  to  furnish 
this  or  that  vagrant  with  money,  who  for  aught  we  can 
tell  will  make  it  the  means  of  intoxication  at  the  next 
resort  of  drunkards,  is  very  far  from  performing  our 
duty  in  the  use  of  our  income.  Thousands  of  dollars 
might  be  wasted  in  this  manner,  with  no  other  result  than 
an  actual  diminution  in  the  virtue  and  happiness  of  man- 
kind. In  a  country  like  ours  there  is  rarely  a  case  in 
which  a  wandering  mendicant  is  deserving  of  charily. 
He  might  earn  his  living  if  he  would,  or  if  he  could  not, 
he  might  obtain  it  from  the  provision  which  our  legisla- 
tures make  in  such  cases.  There  may  be  exceptions  to 
these  remarks  ;  but  as  a  general  thing,  a  person  who 
wishes  to  perform  a  deed  of  mercy  by  himself  had  better 
seek  out  the  poor,  the  widow  and  the  fatherless  in  his  own 
neighborhood,  where  he  may  watch  over  the  use  which 
is  made  of  his  benefactions. 

But,  as  to  doing  any  thing  efficiently  for  instructing 
the  ignorant  and  reclaiming  the  vicious,  by  acting  thus 
disconnectedly,  it  is  utterly  impossible.  Few  are  able  to 
command  the  resources  which  are  necessary  to  support 
a  missionary  in  a  pagan  land,  or  to  carry  forward  any 
other  benevolent  project.  These  things  can  be  done 
only  by  the  united  contributions  of  many  ;  and  hence 
could  not  be  done  at  all  were  it  not  for  the  principle  of 


APPLIED  TO  CHARITABLE  FUNDS.  321 

concentration.  By  bringing  the  resources  of  the  bene- 
volent to  bear  upon  given  points,  as  the  sun's  rays  are 
condensed  to  a  focus  through  a  burning  glass,  a  decided 
impression  may  be  made  upon  the  moral  and  intellectual 
interests  of  man.  In  this  way  luminous  points  may  be 
produced  amid  the  thick  darkness  of  paganism,  each  of 
which  shall  act  as  a  sun  in  its  own  little  system,  around 
which  lesser  lights  will  revolve,  and  thus  extended 
inroads  may  be  made  upon  the  moral  night  that  broods 
over  the  nations.  Nor  will  the  time  be  distant,  should 
the  resources  of  the  church  be  called  irnto  requisition 
and  wisely  directed,  ere  these  radiant  points  will  fling 
their  beams  within  each  other's  limits,  and  thus  the  light 
of  the  knowledge  of  the  glory  of  God  will  fill  all  lands. 
The  conquered  territory  will  supply  fresh  troops  to  the 
victorious  army,  and  by  increasing  the  coalition  of  virtue 
and  truth,  will  accelerate  the  march  of  man  in  the 
career  of  dignity  and  improvement.  Yea,  what  is  more, 
the  establishment  of  civilization  within  the  present  pre- 
cincts of  barbarism,  will  open  new  marts  of  trade,  and 
so  will  pour  back  into  the  coffers  of  the  nation  from 
which  the  influence  emanated,  an  amount  perhaps  more 
than  equal  to  what  she  sent  abroad  upon  this  errand  of 
mercy.  Who  can  calculate  the  extent  of  commerce  that 
would  be  thrown  open  to  human  enterprise,  by  overspread- 
ing Africa,  for  instance,  with  the  institutions  of  civilization  1 
Who  can  estimate  the  increase  of  those  articles  of  trade 
for  which  we  now  depend  upon  nations  in  a  state  of 
nature,  or  a  state  little  better,  if  those  nations  were  to 


322  PRINCIPLE  OF  CONCENTRATION 

feel   the  impetus  which  a  pure  Christianity  gives  to  the 
human  mind? 

That  the  earthly  condition  of  man  is  susceptible  of 
vast  improvements,  the  late  discoveries  in  science  and 
art  leave  no  remaining  doubt.  We  have  succeeded 
wonderfully  in  annihilating  distance ;  and  points  on  the 
earth's  surface  once  remote  from  each  other  are  brought 
into  the  same  neighborhood.  And  yet  the  application  of 
those  principles  by  which  this  result  is  secured  has  but 
just  commenced.  With  such  an  infancy,  therefore,  what 
may  we  not  expect  from  its  adult  age  ?  If  a  present  tenant 
of  the  world  were  allowed  to  visit  it  some  five  hundred 
years  hence,  he  might,  perhaps,  be  as  much  surprised  at 
the  rapidity  with  which  men  will  have  then  contrived  to 
fly  over  space,  as  Archimedes  would  be  at  the  velocity 
of  our  movements.  At  all  events,  if  the  velocity  at  that 
future  period  be  no  greater  than  at  present,  the  fixtures 
will,  doubtless,  be  provided  by  which  it  will  be  spread 
over  a  much  wider  extent  of  surface.  If  the  Indies 
could  be  visited,  or  the  antipodes  meet  each  other,  at  the 
same  rate  of  movement  with  which  the  space  between 
Liverpool  and  Manchester  is  passed,  we  can  hardly  cal- 
culate the  changes  which  it  would  produce  in  the  interests 
and  the  condition  of  man.  The  principles  of  virtue  and 
truth  might  have  a  rapid  circulation  among  the  moral 
elements  of  the  world,  and  might  possibly  produce  per- 
manent sympathies  between  the  distant  portions  of  the 
human  species.  For,  notwithstanding  the  deteriorating 
influence  which  sin  has  exerted  upon  the  character  of 
man,  it  still  retains  its  respect  for  truth,  and  whenever  it 


•  APPLIED  TO  CHARITABLE  FUNDS.  323 

is  in  a  condition  to  be  fairly  touched  by  the  arguments 
which  support  it,  will  succumb  to  their  power. 

The  friends  of  truth,  therefore,  have  only  to  combine 
their  energies  and  resources  to  increase  the  means  of 
communicating  it,  whether  it  respect  natural,  historical, 
or  divine  science ;  and  have  only  to  avail  themselves  of 
the  facilities  which  modern  invention  has  put  into  their 
hands  for  sending  it  abroad  ;  and  the  favorable  results 
upon  the  human  character  and  condition  will  be  rapid  and 
decided.  The  possibility  that  the  church  may  experience 
a  consummation  of  her  pious  wish  for  the  happiness  of 
this  world,  appears  scarcely  less  from  the  natural  fea- 
tures of  the  earth  itself,  and  from  the  constitution  of^ 
man,  than  from  the  predictions  of  the  Bible.  The  great 
outlines  of  geography,  which  show  the  possibility  of 
shortening  the  distance  by  more  than  one  half  from  center 
to  center  of  the  eastern  and  western  continents,  by  open- 
ing a  passage  through  the  two  great  isthmuses  that 
chain  together  the  grand  divisions  of  those  continents, — 
recent  developments  in  the  means  of  increasing  the  velo- 
city of  movement  over  space,  and  the  talent  and  re- 
sources which  are  now  centering  upon  this  point, — the 
principles  of  human  nature  which  show  a  tendency  to 
association, — added  to  the  express  predictions  of  revela- 
tion, are  every  year  producing  greater  and  greater  cer- 
tainty that  the  different  portions  of  the  human  family, 
whatever  their  present  hostility  of  principle,  custom,  or 
feeling,  are  destined  to  an  ultimate  blending  into  one. 
Who,  therefore,  that  has  the  feelings  of  a  Christian, 
or  even  the  heart  of  a  man,  will  not  come  up  to  the  work 


324  CONCENTRATION. 

of  consummating  an  object  so  clear  to  the  heart  of  God,  so 
favorable  to  the  v/elfare  of  man — a  work  invested  in  all 
that  is  morally  beautiful  or  sublime?  Who  will  not  pro- 
secute his  plans  of  acquiring  property  with  this  in  view  ? 
To  what  point  can  money  be  directed  with  brighter 
prospects  of  a  glorious  harvest  ? 


SECTION    IV. 


Executive  management  of  benevolent  funds. 

The  great  thing  to  be  secured  on  this  point,  is  efficient 
cy  and  incorruptibleness  of  conduct.  Without  the  former 
nothing  can  be  done  answerable  to  the  iniportance  of  the 
great  cause  of  benevolence;  and  vi^ithout  the  latter, 
the  public  cannot  be  expected  to  furnish  the  means  of  pro- 
secuting that  cause.  In  what  way  both  these  objects  can 
be  secured,  and  secured  with  the  greatest  economy,  or  with 
the  least  possible  diversion  of  moneys  from  the  great  object 
to  which  they  are  given,  it  may  be  difficult  to  determine. 
Our  remarks  must  be  of  a  general  character,  and  intended 
rather  to  show  what  would  be  best,  provided  public 
sentiment  were  properly  regulated,  than  what  is  feasible 
in  the  actual  state  of  things. 

As  a  general  principle,  it  is  necessary  to  the  efficien- 
cy of  a  power  that  it  be  condensed  into  as  few  hands  as 
possible.  If  the  present  loose,  disconnected,  and  unfi- 
nished forms  of  benevolence  were  to  give  place  to  those 
which  should  be  duly  adjusted  to  each  other  and  united 
28 


326  EXECUTIVE   MANAGEMENT. 

by  a  common  tie,  while  a  saving  might  be  made  on  the 
score  of  expense,  they  might  be  wielded,  by  fewer  hands, 
perhaps,  with  vastly  greater  efficiency.  We  can  con- 
ceive it  possible  that  they  might  be  so  condensed  that 
seven  men,  each  to  have  a  distinct  department,  with  so 
many  agents  under  him  as  should  be  needed  to  do  the 
business,  would  be  amply  qualified  to  direct  the  benevo- 
lent operations  of  any  of  the  great  denominations  of  this 
country,  or  of  them  all,  if  they  were  amalgamated.  Our 
picture  may  perhaps  be  an  ideal  one,  and  not  adapted  to 
the  actual  state  of  man  and  of  the  world.  Be  it  so.  Let 
us  for  a  momet  omit  the  consideration  of  present  imper- 
fections in  the  character  of  church  members,  and  fancy  to 
ourselves  a  state  of  things  in  which  these  are  melted  away 
by  a  nearer  approach  to  the  Sun  of  Righteousness,  and  a 
more  direct  reception  of  His  beams ;  and  what  organiza- 
tions of  mercy  would  then  be  admissible  ?  Perhaps  the 
following  might  be  regarded  as  the  rude  outlines  of  the 
ideal  picture :  that  individuals  be  received  to  the  church 
on  the  express  condition  of  bringing  weekly  gratuities,  in 
money  or  in  pledges,  proportioned  to  their  means,  into  a 
common  coffer  of  benevolence — that  the  church,  by  its 
elders,  deacons,  or  by  chosen  men,  be  the  judge  whether 
they  are  thus  proportioned — that  a  refusal  to  listen  to  the 
voice  of  the  church  on  this  point,  be  regarded  as  a  case 
demanding  vigorous  discipline — that  quarterly  remittances 
be  made  to  the  common  treasury  of  the  churches  acting 
in  concert — that  this  treasury  be  the  general  receptacle 
of  all  their  pious  offerings  beyond  their  personal  charities 
and  the  support  of  religion  at  home — that  the  distribution 


COLLEGE    OF   BENEVOLENCE.  327 

of  this  general  fund  among  the  different  objects  of  bene- 
volence be  left  to  a  few  men  of  age  and  wisdom,  of  tried 
integrity  and  maturity  in  holiness,  and  men  who  are  not  of 
the  clerical  profession  should  doubtless  be  preferred — that 
this  executive  board  occupy  some  locality  remote  from  the 
cities,  yet  conveniently  situated  in  regard  to  post-roads, 
where  it  should  have  buildings  and  all  the  necessary  fix- 
tures, constituting  a  college,  not  of  cardinals,  but  of  bene- 
volence — that  it  have  its  depots  and  agents  in  all  the 
great  cities  of  the  country,  wielding  in  this  manner  the 
energy  and  resources  of  millions,  so  as  to  make  them  bear 
the  most  extensively  upon  the  interests  of  mankind — and 
that  they  send  abroad  weekly  reports  through  a  common 
organ,  of  moneys  received  and  disbursed,  to  all  those 
churches  with  whom  they  originated,  that  every  contri- 
butor,  by  understanding  the  movements  of  the  mighty 
engine  of  mercy  of  which  he  forms  a  part,  may  be  the 
better  qualified  to  send  up  to  heaven  his  prayers,  together 
with  his  alms.  The  prerogatives  of  the  men  having 
charge  of  the  general  treasury  being  of  course  chiefly 
secular,  to  make  the  picture  complete,  the  action  of  a  col- 
lateral organization,  or  perhaps  of  pastors  by  virtue  of 
their  office  as  such,  would  be  necessary  in  the  selection 
and  ordination  of  ministers  and  missionaries,  and  in  the 
transaction  of  all  affairs  of  a  purely  spiritual  nature. 
The  executive  board  of  which  we  speak  would  derive 
its  power  from  the  contributors  as  its  ultimate  source, 
though  their  election  would  be  effected  by  the  delegates 
of  the  churches  in  convention  assembled,  or  otherwise,  as 
might  be  judged  expedient. 


328  EXECUTIVE    MANAGEMENT. 

We  do  not  say  that  the  present  state  of  the  world,  or 
of  the  church,  would  admit  of  an  organization  of  this  cha- 
racter ;  but  that  such  are  the  rude  outlines  of  one  that 
would  seem  to  promise  the  greatest  efficiency,  provided 
things  were  as  they  should  be.  There  is  no  source  from 
which  Protestant  Christendom  as  a  whole,  or  even  any 
one  of  its  great  divisions  in  its  separate  action,  suffers 
greater  obstruction  to  its  progress,  than  from  the  discord 
among  the  elements  that  enter  into  its  composition,  or  the 
total  absence  of  a  subordination  of  parts  to  a  common  cen- 
ter. Its  movements  more  resemble  the  muscular  contor- 
tions of  a  dead  body  at  the  touch  of  the  galvanic  fluid, 
than  those  of  living  forms,  animated,  directed,  and  con- 
trolled by  the  presiding  and  intelligent  agency  of  volition. 
Why  is  it  that  the  Catholic  church  has  done  so  much 
more  to  send  abroad  her  corruptions  of  Christianity,  than 
we  have  to  diffuse  the  pure  elements  of  our  faith  ?  Is  it 
not  because  she  has  a  more  perfect  organization,  and  a 
more  condensed  and  efficient  executive  power  ?  One 
spirit  animates  the  whole,  from  him  who  fills  the  chair  of 
St.  Peter,  at  Rome,  to  the  Irish  emigrant  who  is  thrown 
by  the  charities  of  his  parish  upon  the  wilds  of  Ame- 
rica. All  are  parts  of  one  vast  confederation,  contributing 
their  money  and  their  influence  to  the  same  objects,  and 
through  the  same  channels.  The  children  of  this  world 
are  wiser  in  their  generation  than  the  children  of  light. 

There  is  no  Protestant  denomination  that  has  embo- 
died this  element  of  efficiency  to  the  same  extent  with 
our  Methodist  brethren.  And  the  result  is  well  known. 
Though  last  in  the  field,  they  have  risen  to  be  one  of  the 


METHODISM ITS   ORGANIZATION.  329 

most  numerous  and  powerful  Protestant  denominations. 
What  a  splendid  work  have  they  done  !  a  work  that 
doubtless  places  them  high  in  the  records  of  heaven, 
towards  spreading  the  saving  principles  of  Christianity- 
over  the  sparse  population  of  this  vast,  but  newly  settled 
country !  How  manifestly  does  their  success  depend, 
under  God,  upon  the  simple  fact,  that  they  have  an  effi- 
cient organization !  The  whole  machine  is  wielded  by  a 
few  bishops,  not  arbitrarily,  but  with  the  advice  and  con- 
currence of  the  wisdom  of  the  denomination  in  conference 
assembled. 

These  remarks  upon  the  desirableness  of  condensing 
all  our  benevolent  operations  into  one  organization,  to  be 
managed  by  a  few  safe  men  who  shall  be  wholly  devoted 
to  the  business,  are  made  in  full  view  of  the  past  evils 
arising  from  the  abuse  of  such  powers,  and  of  the  danger 
that  they  might  be  reacted  under  the  system  which  we 
contemplate.  We  are  not  without  hope,  however,  that 
Christians  may  hereafter  attain  to  such  an  elevation  of 
piety  and  moral  worth,  as  to  secure  them  against  such 
abuses  ;  or  that  some  plan  may  be  devised  to  have  orga- 
nizations condensed  and  efficient,  and  at  the  same  time 
free  from  undetected  and  irremediable  corruptions.  We 
are  no  advocates  for  such  a  condensation  of  benevolent 
action,  in  the  present  state  of  the  world,  but  would  hold  it 
up  as  the  mark  of  the  prize  at  which  the  church  should 
aim  in  her  onward  career.  Who  does  not  see  and  feel 
that  Christians  ought  to  be  so  much  like  their  Master,  and 
consequently  so  similar  among  themselves,  that  one  spirit 
should  animate  the  whole,  in  the  work  of  bringing  this 
28* 


330  EXECUTIVE   MANAGEMENT. 

world  into  captivity  to  their  principles  ?  Who  does  not 
know,  that  the  bare  fact  of  such  a  union  would  furnish 
one  of  the  most  powerful  arguments  to  the  superiority  of 
their  religion,  and  would  itself  do  much  to  secure  the  tri- 
umph of  their  cause  ? 

Though  it  would  at  present  be  inexpedient  to  attempt 
to  harmonize  all  Protestant  Christians  in  plans  for  the 
propagation  of  their  faith,  and  though  no  denomination 
may  be  ripe  for  including  all  their  benevolent  operations 
in  one  system,  under  one  executive  board,  yet  it  is  ques- 
tionable whether  a  number  of  the  denominations  are  not 
in  a  condition  to  appoint  a  few  men  with  definite  powers, 
as  a  committee  of  general  supervision  over  all  their 
respective  institutions  of  benevolence.  There  are  cer- 
tainly many  evils  arising  from  the  separate  and  indepen- 
dent action  of  our  benevolent  societies.  Nor  can  they  be 
obviated,  without  some  more  perceptible  and  efficient  bond 
of  union  between  those  societies,  than  any  that  now  exists. 
It  is  always  dangerous  to  set  ponderous  bodies  in  motion, 
without  the  regulating  influence  of  some  principle  in 
common,  to  pr«serve  them  from  interference  and  collision. 
What  security  do  we  enjoy,  as  our  societies  now  exist  and 
act  independently  of  each  other,  against  the  war  of  pre- 
eminence between  them,  and  the  anarchy  of  contending 
interests  ?  Capaciousness  is  a  quality  too  foreign  to  the 
human  mind,  to  admit  of  our  becoming  deeply  enlisted  in 
one,  without  losing  sight  of  the  relative  importance  of 
other  and  collateral  organizations.  Those  who  have 
failed  to  discover  indications  of  this  non-capaciousness — 
this  collapse  upon  partial  interests — in  those  who  stand  at 


RIVALRY    OF    SOCIETIES.  331 

the  head  of  our  organizations  of  benevolence,  are  little  in 
the  habit  of  reading  men  from  the  volume  of  real  life. 

*  They  are  each  the  head  of  the  best  families  in  the  whole 
neighborhood — no  children  are  like  their  children 
— no  rights  are  equal  to  theirs — and  wo  be  to  the 
presumer  who  dares  pretend  to  a  heritage  so  chosen,  so 
illustrious,  as  that  which  they  transmit  to  posterity  !'  If, 
in  the  course  of  events,  new  powers  are  to  be  created,  and 
new  channel^f  benevolent  contributions  opened,  they  ought 
of  course  to  flow  to  them,  because,  in  the  language  of  each, 

*  Our  board  is  first — is  wisest,  discreetest,  best !'  And  this 
exclusive  spirit  breathes  throughout,  from  him  who  sits  in 
the  secretary's  chair,  to  him  who  scours  the  outposts  in 
quest  of  means  :  the  cry  of  all  is,  *  Our  object  is  first ; 
others  are  good,  but  ours  transcends  the  whole  !'  Now, 
these  indications  show  but  too  clearly,  that  those  who  are 
thus  exclusively  occupied  with  partial  interests  require  to 
be  ranged  under  a  common  board,  that  shall  occupy  asub- 
limer  and  serener  elevation — an  elevation  like  that  of  the 
impartial  father  over  his  family,  who  alike  regards  the 
interests  of  all  his  children,  into  whatever  errors  the  sel- 
fishness of  each  may  betray  him,  in  judging  of  his  own 
claims  in  comparison  with  others.  Perhaps  somewhat 
might  be  accomplished  in  this  way  towards  obviating  sec- 
tional prejudices,  and  bringing  all  the  forms  of  mercy  now 
in  the  field  to  bear,  with  united  and  concentrated  power, 
upon  the  great  point  which  each  has  in  view,  of  improving 
the  character  and  condition  of  man,  and  advancing  the 
glory  of  God. 

It  is  possible,  also,  that  some  plan  might  be  devised  to 


332  EXECUTIVE    MANAGEMENT. 

relieve  our  brethren  who  live  near  the  respective  centers 
of  operation  to  our  great  societies,  of  those  unrequited 
labors  which  are  now  devolved  upon  their  hands.  The 
necessity  of  entrusting  the  executive  control  of  benevolent 
funds  to  men  whose  attention  is  divided  between  their  own 
business  on  the  one  hand,  and  their  official  duties  as  mem- 
bers of  a  board  on  the  other,  instead  of  giving  it  up  to 
those  who  shall  make  it  their  sole  business,  is  certainly 
very  questionable.  It  may  be  necessary,  to  secure  pub- 
lic confidence,  to  check  the  tendency  to  extremes  into 
which  men  exclusively  occupied  in  a  thing  are  liable  to 
fall,  and  to  gain  other  valuable  ends,  and  it  may  possibly 
be  superseded  in  a  way  to  gain  all  these  ends,  in  addi- 
tion to  that  of  vastly  greater  efficiency.  What  man  of 
business  can  do  his  part  of  the  official  duties  of  a  board — 
can  attend  its  frequent  meetings,  and  go  through  with  its 
protracted  discussions — can  acquire  that  information  con- 
cerning the  vast  field  spread  out  before  him,  which  is 
necessary  to  qualify  him  for  devising  the  best  modes  of 
operating  upon  it — without  a  culpable  infringement  upon 
his  own  private  affairs  ?  How  can  the  merchant,  with 
the  cares  of  an  extensive  traffic  upon  his  hands,  do  this 
benevolent  work,  without  neglecting  his  indispensable 
calls?  How  can  the  mechanic,  with  perhaps  a  dozen 
apprentices,  and  as  many  journeymen,  give  up  his  time  in 
this  way,  without  serious  detriment  to  his  affairs  ?  Indi- 
viduals thus  situated,  might  better  pay  liberally  to  have 
this  work  done  for  them,  than  attempt  to  do  it  themselves. 
The  truth  is,  when  they  attempt  it,  it  is  often  wholly 
neglected,  or  done  with  too  much  haste  to  be  done  well. 


DRAFTS   UPON    CITY   PASTORS.  333 

And  were  it  not  that  as  many  as  one  or  two  salaried  offi- 
cers are  connected  with  the  boards  of  our  principal  soci- 
eties, who  give  up  their  whole  attention  to  the  business, 
the  public  would  have  little  security  for  its  proper  trans- 
action, merely  because  the  others  have  not  the  leisure  to 
give  it  the  attention  which  it  demands. 

It  is  generally  expected  that  the  pastors  of  churches 
in  the  cities,  when  our  benevolent  societies  carry  on  their 
operations,  will  do  a  large  share  of  their  secular  business. 
But  they  are  really  no  better  quaUfied  to  do  it,  nor  even 
as  well.  And  if  they  give  up  the  time  necessary  to 
qualify  themselves,  they  must  infringe  upon  their  pastoral 
duties,  or  perform  a  service  that  no  human  constitution 
can  endure.  The  numerous  engagements  of  this  sort  in 
which  the  pastors  of  metropolitan  churches  allow  them- 
selves to  become  involved,  are  breaking  down  their 
health,  enfeebling  their  energies,  distracting  their  atten- 
tion, and  unfitting  them  for  their  hoi}'-  calling.  The  time 
that  ought  to  be  spent  in  the  sick  and  death-rooms  of 
their  congregations,  or  in  preparing  beaten  oil  for  the 
sanctuary,  is  wasted,  perhaps,  upon  the  calculation  of 
dollars  and  cents.  Their  studies  are  neglected,  their 
sermons  hastily  composed,  their  productions  superficial ; 
and  with  such  a  burden  of  unofficial  cares  upon  them,  how 
can  they  be  expected  to  maintain  the  pre-eminence  of  the 
pulpit  in  an  age  like  this  ?  Thus,  by  devolving  the  pas- 
toral office  and  the  executive  control  of  benevolent  funds 
upon  the  same  men,  we  provide  to  have  the  duties  of  both 
neglected  ;  or  to  destroy  the  health  and  energies  of  those 


334 


EXECUTIVE  MANAGEMENT. 


who  suffer  themselves  to  become  the  dupes  of  our  indis- 
cretion. 

It  may  not  be  possible  to  correct  these  erils  at  once  ; 
but  it  is  by  no  means  impossible  to  inquire  whether  they 
may  not  be  corrected.  Are  we  bound  to  admit  that  plans 
which  have  not  been  subjected  to  the  test  of  fifty  years* 
experience,  have  already  attained  to  the  acme  of  perfec- 
tion? Must  our  inquiries  on  this  subject  be  repelled  by 
pleading  the  danger  of  innovation,  or  the  authority  of 
venerable  names  ?  The  men,  whose  authority  we  quote, 
were  the  last  to  consider  the  plans  perfect  to  which  they 
gave  the  weight  of  their  names  ?  They  selected  them  as 
the  best  that  their  inexperience  could  devise  ;  or  as  the  only 
ones  that  their  circumstances  would  allow.  Had  those  men, 
at  the  commencement  of  their  labors,  found  a  thousand 
spontaneous  rills  pouring  into  the  treasury  of  benevolence, 
or  had  they  found  the  churches  in  a  condition  to  appreciate 
their  duty  in  the  use  and  pursuit  of  money,  and  disposed 
to  bestow  upon  the  removal  of  existing  evils  in  the  cha- 
racter and  condition  of  man,  their  hundreds  of  thousands 
a  year,  they  would,  doubtless,  have  formed  their  plans  on 
a  widely  different  scale.  In  that  case,  a  large  share  of 
that  part  of  their  labor  which  respected  the  production  of 
means  would  have  been  superseded.  Is  it  too  much 
to  hope  that  a  board  of  general  supervision  would  find 
means  of  obviating,  in  part  or  in  whole,  the  evils  arising 
from  this  source  ? 

It  does  not  fall  within  the  scope  of  our  design  to  point 
out  the  particular  powers  to  be  entrusted  to  such  a  board. 


BOARD  OF  SUPERVISION.  385 

Nor  could  they  be  well  defined  till  such  a  state  of  things 
should  accrue,  as  would  follow  from  the  united  action  of  a 
large  number  of  churches,  upon  the  principles  in  regard  to 
a  provision  for  beneficence,  which  are  advocated  in  these 
pages.     Their   labors   in   the   beginning  might   consist, 
chiefly,  in  condensing  the  present  plans  of  action  into  a 
more  systematic  and  compact  form.     To  enable  them  to 
perform  this  work,  the  different  societies  would,  no  doubt, 
find  it  to  their  own  advantage,  as  well  that  of  the  general 
cause,  to  concede  to  them  certain  powers,  according  to 
the   policy  which  governed  these  States  in  the  forma- 
tion  of  the   Federal  Union.     Could  all  the  benevolent 
operations   of  any   one   of  the  great   denominations  of 
Protestant  Christendom,  be  thus  united  under  an  efficient 
head,  who  should  be  left  to  adjust  the   relative  claims  of 
each  to  the  public  patronage,  and  assign  it  that  station 
among  the  means  of  mercy  to  man,  which  would  render 
the  joint  power  of  all  the  most  formidable,  how  much 
more   good   might   we  hope  to  realize  with  the   same 
amount  of  means,  than  can  be  expected  from  our  present 
disconnected  and  often  discordant  organizations !     In  this 
way  we  might  hope  to  be  secured  against  the  imposition 
of  those  petty  charities,  which  are  springing  up  like  mush- 
rooms all  over  the  land,  and,  on  the  credit  of  a  few  names, 
extorting  from  the  public,  moneys  of  which  they  are  utter- 
ly  unworthy,  and  greatly  to  the  detriment  of  the  cause  of 
benevolence.     And  that  objection  to  such  a  great  com- 
pact, which  is  founded  in  the  supposition  that  Christians 
need  the    stimulus  of  those    corrival    calls  upon   their 
contributions,  which  arise  from  the  separate  action  of  our 


336  EXECUTIVE  MANAGEMENT. 

great  societies,  in  order  to  make  them  liberal,  will  be  ob- 
viated when  they  come  to  act  upon  the  principles  of  their 
avowed  consecration  to  God. 

Such  an  organization  as  we  here  contemplate  might 
doubtless  be  rendered  as  secure  against  maladministra- 
tion, as  those  which  now  exist.  We  might  here  add  a 
chapter  to  make  this  appear,  as  also  to  consider  objec- 
tions, and  to  go  still  further  into  detail ;  but  the  subject  is 
so  remote  from  the  present  course  of  things,  that  with 
these  few  hints  we  must  leave  it  for  the  more  lucid  com- 
ments of  future  experiment  and  observation. 

With  a  few  remarks  concerning  the  manner  of  secur- 
ing the  management  of  benevolent  funds  against  corrup- 
tion,  we  shall  dismiss  this  part  of  our  work.  The  most 
effectual  method  of  attaining  this  security  is  to  guard 
against  accumulations.  Provision  should  be  made  to 
have  the  last  cent  drawn  off  from  the  treasury  of  benevo- 
lence by  the  operations  of  every  successive  year.  Have 
our  organizations  of  mercy  so  little  faith,  that  they  dare 
not  venture  forward,  unless  a  golden  pavement  is  prepared 
to  sustain  their  tread  ]  Must  they  have  a  solid  basis  of 
real  estate,  of  bank-stock,  or  money  at  interest,  of  which 
they  can  make  no  use  beyond  the  proceeds,  to  enable 
them  to  prosecute  their  work  of  mercy  ?  Did  our  Sa- 
viour and  his  apostles  demand  a  capital  in  gold  and  silver, 
to  enable  them  to  embark  in  their  enterprises  of  benevo- 
lence 1  Did  He  not,  on  the  contrary,  instruct  his  disciples 
to  provide  themselves  neither  gold,  nor  silver,  nor  brass 
in  their  purses,  nor  scrip  for  their  journey,  neither  two 
coats,  neither  shoes,  nor  yet  staves  1     The  bad  policy, 


DANGER  OF  ACCUMULATIONS.  337- 

and  utter  abomination  of  attempts  on  the  part  of  benevo- 
lent societies,  to  accumulate  any  thing  beyond  what  m.ay 
be  invested  in  the  fixtures,  necessary  to  prosecute  their 
operations,  will  appear  from  the  following  considera- 
tions. 

1.  It  is  the  same  as  attempting  to  supersede  the  ne- 
cessity of  continued  contributions,  'and  so  to  leave  with 
posterity  a  temptation  to  restrict  their  liberality,  whos3 
strength  will  be  exactly  proportioned  to  the  degree  of  our 
success. 

Can  it  be  expected  that  our  children  will  feel  the  same 
interest  in  contributing  to  a  benevolent  institution,  which 
they  found  with  immense  accumulations  in  its  treasury,  that 
they  would  to  one,  which  we  had  taught  them  to  love  and 
respect,  but  which  they  found  with  no  other  resources 
than  what  their  liberality  should  supply  ?  On  this  point 
there  can  be  no  doubt.  Oar  attempts,  therefore,  at  leav- 
ing religious  accumulations  behind  us,  are  virtual  attempts 
to  counteract  and  enfeeble  the  energy  of  benevolent  prinr. 
ciple  in  those  who  may  succeed  us. 

2.  We  cannot  discharge  our  duty  to  a  suffering  world 
without  bringing  to  their  relief,  both  principal  and  interest, 
of  what  we  have  to  bestow.  Suppose  it  would  require 
ten  thousand  dollars  to  provide  the  inhabitants  of  a  certain 
island,  over  whose  vegetation  a  blight  had  passed,  with 
the  means  of  subsistence — that  this  amount  were  raised, 
but  instead  of  expending  all  upon  their  immediate  relief,  it 
were  put  into  a  fund,  and  only  the  interest  used,  what  could 
we  expect  but  that  thousands  would  perish  as  a  conse- 
quence 1    After  Christians  have  given  all  they  ought  and 

29 


3J^8  EXECUTIVE    MANAGEMENT. 

can,  there  will  still  remain  a  vast  destitution  in  this  region 
of  famine  and  woe.  And  now,  shall  we  collect  our  gra- 
tuities, put  them  into  funds,  and  then  dole  out  only  the  pro- 
ceeds  of  the  miserable  pittance,  when  millions  upon  mil- 
lions are  perishing  for  want  of  both  principal  and  inte- 
rest ?  Oh !  if  there  is  any  one  practice  on  this  earth 
more  strongly  marked  than  others,  with  the  dark  lines 
of  hell  in  its  features,  it  is  this  accumulating  policy  on  the 
part  of  charitable  institutions  !  It  is  the  element  which 
the  devil  has  contrived  to  infuse  into  them,  to  neutralize 
their  power  and  to  corrupt  their  managers. 

3.  Benevolent  accumulations  are  rarely  managed 
with  the  same  economy  with  that  which  marks  the  opera- 
tions of  a  society,  which  is  left  to  depend  upon  the  con- 
tinued exercise  of  liberality  in  the  churches.  They  breed 
a  feeling  of  independence  in  those  with  whom  they  are 
entrusted,  and  give  them  confidence  to  say,  '  why  this 
society  is  rich,  and  there  is  no  propriety  in  my  serving  it 
for  so  miserable  a  salary.  I  must  have  more  or  I  will 
do  nothing.'  Nor  is  the  same  amount  of  prayer  and  faith 
to  be  expected  in  men  thus  situated,  with  accumulated 
thousands  at  their  disposal,  as  in  those  who  manage  a 
treasury  upon  which  the  calls  are  so  urgent  that  it  cannot 
afford  a  day's  rest  to  a  single  farthing. 

4.  All  the  experience  of  past  ages  admonishes  us  against 
allowing  religious  funds  to  accumulate  upon  our  hands. — 
Look  at  the  immense  estates  which  were  poured  into  the 
coffers  of  the  church,  upon  the  accession  of  Con- 
stantino to  the  throne;  and  observe  the  assumptions 
of  power  into  which  the  clergy  were  immediately  betray- 


EXPERIENCE  AGAINST  ACCUMULATIONS.  339 

ed  ;  the  carnal  policy  that  governed  them ;  and  the  utter 
annihilation  of  the  distinctive  elements  of  Christianity 
from  the  pretended  church,  which  soon  followed.  Owing 
to  her  wealth,  in  connection  with  other  causes,  she 
became  a  mass  of  corruption  ;  the  atmosphere  above  her 
was  fetid ;  and  such  symptoms  of  moral  disease,  and  such 
forms  of  crime  showed  themselves  among  the  nations 
subject  to  her  sway,  as  had  not  been  known  from  the 
foundation  of  the  world.  And  through  a  line  of  ages, 
even  down  to  our  own  times,  the  immense  wealth  of  the 
monastic  orders,  together  with  the  other  estates  and  reve- 
nues of  the  church,  have  been  a  pregnant  source  of  those 
revolutions  which  have  deluged  the  old  world  with  blood. 
Could  those  kings,  nobles,  and  rich  men  in  ages  past, 
who,  under  the  deluded  notion  of  procuring  for  their  souls 
a  quiet  retreat  in  heaven,  thus  endowed  the  church ;  could 
they  have  foreseen  the  vast  expense  of  blood,  crime,  and 
misery  to  this  world,  at  which  their  supposed  purchases 
in  the  next  were  effected,  methinks  that  from  motives  of 
patriotism,  if  no  other,  they  would  have  foregone  their 
individual  prospects  of  happiness,  for  the  sake  of  the  pub- 
lic weal.  Such  a  foresight  would  at  least  have  begotten 
in  them  a  doubt,  whether  any  thing  could  be  gained  in 
another  world,  by  entailing  so  blighting  a  curse  on  this. 
Nor  is  there  any  more  to  hope  from  future  accumulations 
in  the  hands  of  the  church.  Money  retains  all  its  wither- 
ing powers,  and  human  nature  all  its  susceptibilities  to  be 
affected  by  its  blighting  influence.  Hence,  if  all  the 
funded  property  now  in  the  hands  of  the  church,  beyond 
what  is  invested  in  the  necessary  fixtures  for  her  wor- 


W^  EXECUTIVE  MANAGEMENT. 

ship,  were  buried  in  ocean's  lowest  caverns  ;  if  all  her 
prospects  of  state  revenue  were  cut  off,  and  she  were  left 
to  subsist  wholly  by  the  vigor  of  the  voluntary  principle 
in  her  own  members,  her  prospects  of  future  pre-eminence 
and  extension  would  be  vastly  more  promising.  We 
know  churches,  not  a  few,  who  have  funded  property  suf- 
ficient in  part,  in  whole,  or  more  than  sufficient  for  their 
own  support ;  and  the  invariable  consequence  is,  a  spirit 
of  illiberality  in  their  own  members,  or  of  indifference  to 
their  interests — as  it  is  not  to  be  expected  that  men  will 
feel  much  interest  in  what  costs  them  nothing.  And  the 
same  reasons  against  accumulations  exist  in  benevolent 
societies  as  in  churches,  since  they  are  and  must  be  vir- 
tually, if  not  in  name,  ecclesiastical  organizations.  The 
present  generation  might  as  well  think  of  doing  all  the 
praying  for  several  generations  to  come,  as  to  pro- 
vide at  their  hands  the  means  of  exercising  charity. 
The  latter  duty,  to  answer  the  design  of  heaven,  must  be 
personal  as  well  as  the  former. 

5.  It  is  impossible  for  us  to  leave  property  to  any  par- 
ticular form  of  benevolence,  with  any  certainty  that  it 
will  not  be  diverted  from  our  design  ;  or  that  there  may 
not  be  even  a  necessity  to  infringe  upon  the  terms  of  our 
devise.  The  instances  are  rare  in  which,  in  the  course 
of  ages,  there  is  not  an  illegal  and  unjust  diversion  of 
benevolent  funds  from  the  design  of  the  donors.  Though 
this  country  has  not  been  an  abode  of  civih'zed  men  for 
half  a  millenary,  yet  how  numerous  are  the  complaints, 
and  how  frequerit  the  law-suits  that  arise  from  those 
complaints,  that  ecclesiastical  or  literary  funds  are  not 


DIVERSION  OF  FUNDS  FROM  THEIR  DESI&N.  341 

used  according  to  the  specified  intention  of  those  by 
whom  they  were  bequeathed  !  Are  not  these  abuses  so 
common,  at  least,  as  to  destroy  confidence  in  those  who 
may  think  of  leaving  property  for  benevolent  purposes, 
with  the  view  of  having  only  the  interest  used  year  by 
year?  Would  they  not  be  much  more  secure  of  their 
object,  if  they  placed  their  estates  where  principal  and 
interest  should  both  be  used  as  fast  as  the  demands  of  the 
cause  might  require  ? 

And  then,  how  can  a  man  foresee  all  the  forms  of  be- 
nevolence  that  may  spring  up  in  time  to  come  ?  As  well 
may  he  anticipate  all  the  varieties  of  figure  that  will 
show  themselves  upon  every  successive  turning  of  the 
kaleidoscope.  Who  knows  but  that  something  may  yet 
be  contrived  to  supersede  our  present  Bible,  tract,  mis- 
sionary, and  education  societies,  that  would  make  it  seem  as 
awkward  in  the  church  to  continue  them  as  it  now  would,  if 
she  should  require  every  copy  of  the  Scriptures  to  be 
made  by  manual  transcription  ?  Suppose  Philemon  and 
Aquila  had  left  their  estates,  with  an  express  provision 
that  the  interest  should  be  used  in  all  time  to  come,  in 
paying  men  for  copying  the  Bible  with  the  pen — should 
we  not  now  find  it  necessary  to  violate  the  terms  of  the 
devise  ?  Or,  would  not  both  principal  and  interest  have 
been  used  long  ere  this,  for  the  purpose  of  propagating 
worse  evils  than  those  which  Philemon,  and  Aquila,  and 
Paul  labored  to  destroy  ?  The  dying  man,  who  under- 
takes to  say  how  the  men  of  a  thousand  years  hence 
shall  use  the  interest  of  his  estate,  what  forms  of  benevo- 
lence it  shall  support,  what  creed  it  shall  perpetuate,  ox 

29* 


342  EXECUTIVE  MANAGEMENT. 

in  what  channels  charity  shall  then  flow,  does  in  effect 
forge  chains  for  the  human  mind  to  obstruct  its  onward 
career.  Millions  are,  at  this  moment,  held  in  durance  by 
those  golden  chains,  which  previous  ages  have  thus  forged 
for  their  feet ;  and  because  the  adoption  of  a  more  consist- 
ent faith,  of  a  more  enlightened  practice  ;  or,  in  the  civil 
world,  because  plans  of  government  more  compatible  with 
the  rights  of  man  cannot  be  advocated,  without  a  sacri- 
fice of  interest ;  the  relics  of  former  ignorance,  imbecility, 
or  wickedness  are  vindicated  with  a  warmth  worthy  ot  a 
better  cause.  Well  may  we  say  to  him  who  would  give 
his  estate  in  this  manner,  Thy  money  perish  with  thee* 

Accumulations  for  literary  purposes,  except  what  is  in- 
vested in  libraries  and  other  means  necessary  to  the  cul- 
tivation of  mind,  are  of  equally  questionable  propriety. 
If  those  in  a  course  of  actual  training  in  our  colleges  and 
other  seats  of  learning,  do  not  receive  a  value  sufficient 
to  justify  them  or  their  patrons,  in  paying  such  an  amount 
as  may  be  needed  to  support  these  establishments,  there 
is  no  reason  why  otliers  should  make  up  the  deficiency,  by 
placing  at  their  disposal  the  annual  proceeds  of  funded 
property.*     We  grant  that  such  property  might  be  of 

*  Perhaps  some  exception  may  be  made  in  regard  to  infant 
institutions,  which,  to  do  justice  to  the  public,  find  it  necessary  to 
employ  a  complete  faculty^  when  the  number  of  pupils  is  not  suffi- 
cient, with  a  fair  charge  for  education,  to  give  them  a  just  compen- 
sation. If  funds  are  provided,  however,  to  meet  such  an  emergency 
instead  of  doing  it  by  yearly  subscription,  they  should  not  be  perma- 
nent, but  so  arranged  as  to  run  out  in  a  few  years,  and  then,  if 
they  have  been  expended  in  a  way  to  produce  their  value  and  se- 
cure public  confidence,  there  will  be  no  difficulty  in  reviving 
them  again,  provided  they  should  still  be  found  necessary. 


FUNDS  FOR  LITERARY  PURPOSES.  343 

service  in  keeping  up  the  institution,  in  the  event  of  its 
falHng  under  the  supervision   of  an   inefficient  and  in- 
competent faculty,  who  should  be  incapable  of  returning 
to  the  public   the  value  of  their  own  salaries.     But  this, 
so  far  from  being  a  reason  why  they  should  be  thus  en- 
dowed, is  one  of  the  most  conclusive  arguments  for   our 
own  theory.     What  motive  is  there  for  keeping  up  an 
institution,  which  has  lost  the  power  of  conferring  on  tho 
public  a  value  sufficient  for  its  own  support  ?     Must  we 
provide  to  feed  a  hive  of  literary  drones  ?     An  institution 
of  learning  is  something  more  than  brick,  mortar,  and 
stone ;  than  the  classical  names  of  Oxford,  Cambridge, 
or  Yale  ;  or  even  than  a  collection  of  books,  philosophi- 
cal apparatus,  and  other  means  of  knowledge ;  it  is  an 
engine  for  developing  the  powers  of  youth — for  teaching 
them  to  think,  to  reason,  to  act — for  transfusing  the  con- 
tents of  highly  gifted  and  richly  endowed  minds  through  the 
intellectual  atmosphere  of  a  coming  age.     Now,  where  the 
power  of  thus  acting  upon  mind  exists,  whether  it  be  in  con- 
nection with  a  classical  locality  or  not,  there  is  the  college 
and  the  university,  which  the  public  may  well  affiDrd  to  sus- 
tain,  and  which  they  will  sustain,  fvithout  the  aid  of  any 
other  literary  fund,  than  what  may  be  invested  in  the  build- 
ings, books,  and  other  necessary  fixtures  of  its  operation. 
If  literary  and  scientific  institutions  were  left  to  stand 
wholly  upon  their  own  merits,  and  not  by  the  weight  of 
former  reputation,  nor  by  the  strength  of  ample  accu- 
mulations, a  fair  chance  for  competition  would  then  exist 
between  those  who  set  up  for  teachers ;  effort  for  real  merit 
would  be  on  the  alert,  and  the  wreath  of  pre-eminence 


344  EXECUTIVE  MANAGEMENT. 

would  flosirish  only  on  the  brows,  to  which  by  right 
it  belonged.  It  is  the  men — the  amount  of  mind  embodied 
in  an  institution,  and  not  its  wealth,  that  must  decide  the 
question  of  its  claims  upon  public  patronage.  Who  does 
not  know  that  in  the  better  days  of  Grecian  history,  seats 
of  learning  were  little  more  than  aggregations  of  mind 
created  by  gifted  spirits  around  themselves — the  train  that 
waited  on  the  march  of  nature's  noblemen.  Such  men  as 
Socrates,  Plato,  and  Aristotle,  embodied  in  themselves  all 
the  elements  of  a  university,  acting  like  a  charm  upon 
the  mass  of  mind,  and  rendering  any  locality  which  they 
might  select  the  classical  resort  of  gifted  young  men. 
As  monied  accumulations,  therefore,  can  never  supply 
the  place  of  mind  in  our  seats  of  learning,  and  viay  be 
the  means  of  making  them  splendid  impositions  upon  the 
public,  it  is  not  desirable  that  they  should  be  sought  any 
further  than  the  requisite  fixtures  may  make  them  neces- 
sary. These  rem.arks  have  no  reference,  of  course,  to 
the  subject  of  gratuitously  paying  the  price  of  education 
for  worthy  and  promising  young  men.  If  the  price  is  only 
paid,  it  makes  no  difference  to  the  institution  itself,  whether 
it  be  with  money  giv^  to  its  pupils  by  their  parents,  or 
by  a  cbaritable  society. 

We  should  not  have  indulged  in  this  digression  upon 
institutions  of  learning,  but  for  their  intimate  connection 
with  those  of  benevolence.  We  are  enemies  of  accu- 
mulations for  all  such  objects.  The  temptations  to  cor- 
ruption, in  one  form  or  another,  which  they  hold  out,  are  too 
much  for  human  nature  long  to  withstand.  We  have  many 
reasons,  besides  those  already  offered,  for  leaving  succes- 


EACH  GENERATION  ITS  OWN  PURVEYOR.  345 

sive  generations  to  pay  the  price  of  their  own  charities ; 
their  own  intellectual,  moral,  and  physical  good,  out 
of  the  fruits  of  their  own  application  and  industry.  At 
all  events,  confident  that  no  quality,  which  now  renders 
our  benevolent  organization  useful  to  men,  or  pleasing  in 
the  eye  of  God,  could  long  survive  a  rich  endowment 
of  funded  property,  we  shall  hope  and  pray,  while  we 
have  breath,  that  they  may  never  rise  above  a  condition 
of  continual  dependence  upon  ^the  contributions  of  pious 
men. 


CONCLUSION 


We  have  not  allowed  ourselves,  in  the  foregoing 
pages,  to  anticipate  a  period,  when  the  present  conflicting 
interests  of  Protestant  Christendom  shall  be  amalgamated  ; 
but  have  uniformly  spoken  on  the  principle  of  its  being 
desirable,  in  the  present  state  of  human  nature,  that  each 
of  the  denominations  should  have  within  itself  an  organi- 
zation of  benevolence,  distinct  from  all  the  rest.  We 
cannot  forbear  adding  a  few  remarks,  however,  as  ex- 
pressive of  our  conviction,  that  this  dissevering  of  inte- 
rests that  ought  to  be  united  in  one,  so  far  from  aiding  the 
cajuse  of  man,  is  the  foulest  blot  upon  its  escutcheon,  the 
most  formidable  obstacle  to  the  triumph  of  truth  in  the 
earth.  With  the  reason,  and  argument,  and  intelligence, 
and  favorable  bearing  upon  the  rights  of  man,  and  con- 
sequent sympathy  enlisted  in  her  behalf—with  the  arts, 
science,  literature,  enterprise,  and  wide  spread  commerce 
of  Protestant  Christianity,  she  might,  if  the  principle  of 
concert  and  concentration  were  at  the  basis  of  her  move- 
ments, soon  achieve  brilliant  deeds  of  benevolence  and  mer- 
cy to  the  world.     But,  broken  up  into  a  thousand  fr^g* 


348  UNION  OF  PROTESTANT  SECTS. 

merits,  and  each  exerting  more  power  to  crowd  the  others 
out  of  their  course,  than  to  drive  the  devil  from  the  worl^, 
their  energies  are  wasted,  paralyzed,  lost.  With  the 
pure  eye  of  God,  and  the  suspicious  gaze  of  the  world 
upon  us,  how  dare  we  indulge  this  sectarian  arrogance^ 
this  secret  heart-burning,  these  vile  attacks  upon  each 
other's  honest  peculiarities,  this  struggle  for  pre-eminence, 
and  this  untruced  war  among  ourselves  ;  when  we  have 
common  enemies  to  assail,  from  whom  we  all  have  so 
much  more  to  apprehend,  than  we  have  to  fear  from  each 
other?  Infidelity,  paganism,  Rome,  the  Moslem,  and 
hell  are  a  coalition,  which,  ranking  us  in  the  same  line  of 
opposition,  without  regard  to  the  little  peculiarities  of  which 
we  make  so  much  account  among  ourselves,  aims  at  con- 
signing us  all  to  the  same  undistinguished  ruin.  While, 
therefore,  we  form  a  common  front  upon  which  this 
Xerxes  is  concentrating  the  countless  files  of  war,  it  be- 
hooves us  to  forget  that  we  belong  to  hostile  states,  and  to 
march  forth  under  the  broad  banner  of  the  common  weal, 
conquering  and  to  conquer.  Oh,  when  will  the  advocates 
of  all  that  is  saving  in  revealed  truth  harmonize  in  mutual 
plans  of  operation  1 

Perhaps  it  is  too  much  to  hope  that  for  a  century  or 
two  to  come  these  conflicting  interests  will  be  amalgama- 
ted. The  progress  of  improvement  is  too  tardy,  the 
principle  of  persistance  in  the  wonted  course  too  strong, 
and  prejudice  too  invincible,  to  allow  of  such  a  hope. 
But,  granting  that  Protestant  Christianity  must  exist  in  its 
present  dissevered  state  for  one  or  two  centuries  to  come  ; 
yet,  how  much  might  be  gained  to  the  cause  of  human- 


BENEVOLENCE  NEVER  MADE  THE  BASIS  OF  A  SECT.  349 

ity,  if  each  of  the  great  divisions  would  practise  a  little 
more  courtesy  to  the  others,  would  cease  from  its  con- 
flict with  them,  and  form  within  itself  a  compact  and  vi- 
gorous system,  of  labor  and  expenditure  for  the  good  of 
mankind  !  When  one  looks  at  the  arguments,  which  sus- 
tain the  duty  of  systematically  sacrificing  on  the  altar  of 
beneficence,  one  cannot  but  be  surprised,  that  among  the 
numerous  founders  of  sects,  no  one  has  hit  upon  this  as 
his  grand  peculiarity,  and  made  it  the  sine  qua  non  of 
membership  and  communion.  How  should  it  happen 
that  visible  rites,  theoretical  dogmas,  and  even  peculiari- 
ties of  diction  and  costume  should  have  been  magnified 
into  the  basis  of  conscientious  dissent ;  while  no  denomi- 
nation, (unless  the  Moravians  have  won  that  enviable  dis- 
tinction,) has  ever  yet  made  a  regard  to  the  claims  of  hu- 
manity the  rallying  point  of  its  separation.  This  shows 
that  men  are  more  tenacious  of  opinions,  than  of  good 
works. 

Had  there  been  but  one  instance,  in  which  the  regular 
sacrifice  of  treasure  upon  the  altar  of  humanity  had  been 
made  the  Shibboleth  of  a  party,  it  might  have  provoked 
investigation,  and  led  to  results  positively  beneficial. 
One,  of  a  thousand  volumes  which  have  been  written  upon 
the  rites  or  abstract  points  of  our  faith,  directed  to  this  sub- 
ject, might,  ere  this,  have  materially  changed  the  entire 
aspect  of  the  world.  Should  some  one,  with  the  ambition 
of  becoming  a  sectarian  leader,  begin  his  work  by  brush- 
ing away  the  cobweb  theories  of  his  predecessors — should 
he  trample  under  foot  the  useless  tomes  on  free  will,  ne- 
cessity, and  other  abstract  questions,  in  which,  if  we 
30 


350   IDEA  OF  A  SECT  THAT  SHOULD  BE  SO  FORMED. 

might  judge  from  the  pretensions  of  their  authors,  all  the 
secret  things  of  God  are  brought  to  light — should  he  allay 
the  spectres  which  have  been  called  up  from  their  tombs 
by  the  metaphysical  sorceress — and  then,  should  he  em- 
body, in  the  basis  of  his  organization,  a  principle  which 
should  call  into  action  all  the  energies  of  his  followers, 
upon  the  single  point  of  raising  man  to  the  dignity  of 
virtue  and  truth,  and  of  impelling  him  to  those  labors  and 
sacrifices,  by  which  his  woes  may  be  alleviated,  his  igno- 
rance dispelled,  his  infidelity  counteracted,  and  his  con- 
flicts healed  ;  and  by  which  the  current  of  his  feelings 
may  be  made  to  set  in  favor  of  all  that  can  exalt,  eno- 
ble,  and  beautify  his  own  condition  ;  this  would  be  a  secta- 
rian leader  before  whom  the  nations  would  do  well  to  rise 
up,  and  under  whose  banner  every  religious  faction  might 
march  out  to  achieve  its  trumphs  on  earth.  Let  him  fix 
upon  a  rule  at  the  outset,  which  should  forever  bar  his 
followers  from  sectarian  conflicts,*  which  should  render 

*  Controversial  writings  have,  for  the  most  part,  resulted  from  a 
radical  mistake  concerning  the  principles  of  our  nature.  We  are  so 
constituted,  as  to  be  unconsciously  thrown  into  an  attitude  of  resist- 
ance, by  an  avowed  assault  upon  our  favorite  principles.  Hence, 
whatever  is  presented  to  us  with  the  air  of  controversy,  forecloses 
the  possibility  of  a  fair  and  candid  examination  ;  and  in  nine  cases 
out  of  ten,  however  conclusive  the  arguments  against  us,  we  are  only 
confirmed  by  them  in  our  former  opinions.  If,  therefore,  the  object 
is  to  advance  truth,  why  have  we  not  learned  ere  this,  to  employ 
some  means  of  securing  it  adapted  to  the  purpose,  instead  of  forever 
resorting  to  those  which  can  never  fail  of  defeating  our  design  1  As 
long  as  controversy  is  perpetuated,  our  prayers  for  the  union  of 
Christians,  will  be  as  unavailing,  as  it  would  be  to  pray  for  life  and 
health,  while  in  the  act  of  drinking  arsenic. 


IMPORTANCE  OF  BENEVOLEIsCE  TO  OUE  NATION.       351 

both  their  ears  deaf,  to  the  syren  voice  of  those  who 
would  perpetuate  them,  which  should  put  them  upon  the 
investigation  of  whatever  in  the  Scriptures,  (and  it  all 
bears  on  this  point,)  may  serve  as  an  incentive  to  holy 
living,  and  which  should  teach  them  to  adopt  such  a  sys- 
tem of  labor  and  expenditure,  as  would  bring  these  incen- 
tives into  as  speedy  a  contact  as  possible  with  every  hu- 
man mind.  Thus,  if  the  merciful  tendency  of  our  holy 
religion  were  allowed  to  absorb  every  interest,  and  all 
sects  were  intent  upon  being  the  most  holy — upon  enjoy- 
ing a  Christianity  as  free  as  possible  from  the  alloy  of  hu- 
man passions,  and  upon  doing  the  greatest  amount  of 
good,  how  long  ere  the  present  walls  of  separation  would 
be  crumbled  down,  and  that  argument  for  the  divine  ori- 
gin of  our  Saviour's  mission  be  presented  to  the  world, 
which  arises  from  all  Christians  being  one  as  the  Father 
and  the  Son  are  one  1  When  the  followers  of  Christ  be- 
come absorbed  in  labors  of  mercy  and  good  will,  they 
will  find  little  leisure  for  indulging  their  mutual  animosi- 
ties ;  and  thus,  the  union  for  which  their  Master  prayed 
on  the  evening  before  his  crucifixion,  will  meet  with  a 
speedy  consummation. 

Finally,  we  cannot  feel  satisfied  to  dismiss  the  subject, 
without  adding  a  few  thoughts  upon  the  favorable  influ- 
ence which  the  principles  advocated  in  these  pages  would 
exert,  if  generally  reduced  to  practice,  upon  the  interests 
of  this  nation.  Nothing  is  more  important  in  a  civil 
point  of  view,  than  that  the  surplus  treasures  in  the  hands 
of  this  nation,  should  find  vent  for  themselves  in  some  way 
that  shall  benefit  others  without  injuring  ourselves.     It  is 


352  CAUSES  OF  PBOSPERITY,  THOSE  OF  PERIL 

only  by  giving  play  to  the  benevolent  emotions  that  we 
can  hope  to  withstand  those  incitements  to  inebriation,  ef- 
feminacy, and  luxury,  to  which  we  stand  exposed.  Inha- 
biting a  country,  that  stretches  from  shore  to  shore  ot  the 
two  great  oceans  of  the  world — a  country  spread  out  be- 
tween the  northern  tropic,  and  that  parallel  of  latitude 
which  terminates  the  injurious  severity  of  polar  frosts — a 
soil  of  unbounded  luxuriance,  covering  every  variety  of 
mineral  wealth,  and  sustaining  forests  that  abound  in 
almost  every  useful  timber — a  climate  of  great  salubrity — 
with  all  these  advantages  for  acquiring  wealth  above, 
beneath,  around — conjoined  to  a  passion  for  it,  that  renders 
us  proverbial  among  the  nations  of  the  earth,  and  ex- 
empted from  all  restraints  in  the  pursuit  of  our  object, 
from  the  institutions  under  which  we  live — how  can  we 
fail  of  becoming  hereafter  exposed  to  all  the  dangers 
with  which  illimitable  abundance  comes  attended  ? 

Upon  the  deteriorating  influence  of  vast  accumula- 
tions, history  affords  an  exposition  too  lucid  to  require  the 
aid  of  our  pen.  To  the  eye  accustomed  to  survey  the 
past,  and  to  penetrate  into  the  inherent  tendency  of  things, 
even  the  glowing  hopes  of  this  nation,  and  more  than  all 
the  actual  reasons  for  those  hopes,  cannot  fail  to  present 
a  most  portentous  aspect.  When  our  vast  forests  come  to 
be  cleared,  to  give  place  to  the  array  of  civilized  life ; 
when  our  ocean-prairies  are  covered  with  the  products  of 
cultivation,  and  our  soil  is  forced  to  pour  into  the  lap  of 
industry  the  immensity  of  its  annual  resources  ;  when 
our  lakes  and  rivers  receive  all  the  improvements,  of 
which  they  are  capable  for  internal  navigation,  and  are 


AS  WELL.       LESSONS  OF  THE  PAST.  353 

made  to  float  an  amount  of  wealth  and  population,  as  great 
in  proportion  to  what  this  country  is  capable  of  sustaining, 
as  the  amount  they  now  float  is  to  the  present  wealth  and 
population  ;  when  our  mines  are  wrought  to  the  greatest 
perfection  ;  and,  in  fine,  when  all  our  sources  of  wealth  are 
opened  and  taxed  to  their  full  extent,  what  arithmetic, 
what  numbers  can  calculate  the  mighty  result  ? 

Hence,  unless  we  can  throw  in  among  these  elements 
of  future  magnificence,  those  conservative  principles 
which  shall  prevent  the  exclusive  use  of  this  abundance, 
and  counteract  its  tendency  to  inebriation,  the  fate  of  Tyre, 
of  Babylon,  of  Persepolis,  and  of  Rome,  will  be  ours ! 
The  wave  of  pollution  and  infamy,  yea,  of  final  extinc- 
tion  will  roll  over  our  whole  land.  Our  posterity,  riot- 
ing amid  the  ample  means  of  luxury,  which  we  have  taught 
them  to  acquire,  will  urge  their  way  to  a  returnless  dis- 
tance from  the  restraints  of  virtue  and  piety  ;  and  so, 
will  ingulf  the  institutions  for  which  our  fathers  bled, 
together  with  themselves,  in  one  common  ruin.  Oh,  to 
think  of  a  period  when  future  travellers  will  walk  over 
the  ruins  of  our  cities,  and  sitting  on  their  broken  col- 
umns, under  the  pale  beams  of  the  disconsolate  moon, 
shall  listen  to  the  owl,  the  bittern,  the  satyr,  the  dragon,  the 
vulture,  and  each  doleful  creature,  rioting  in  the  cham- 
bers from  which  the  riot  of  our  children  expelled  them ; 
and  howling  from  windows  through  which  wanton 
beauty  once  cast  her  poisonous  glance  upon  tho 
passer-by — to  think  of  giving  being  to  a  nation  of  drunk- 
ards and  debauchees,  whose  inebriating  habits  shall  dis- 
qualify them  for  preserving,  or  appreciating   the  princi" 


354     POWER   OF    OUR    RESOURCES,   WELL   EMPLOYED. 

pies  which  are  the  glory  of  our  age,  or  even  a  nation 
whose  energies  shall  be  cramped  by  a  load  of  unused 
and  useless  wealth,  must  be  in  the  highest  degree  ab- 
horrent to  every  bosom  that  feels  the  pulsations  of  a 
Christian,  or  even  an  American  heart !  Let  us  teach  it 
to  our  children,  and  to  our  children's  children,  that  wealth 
is  not  to  be  used  exclusively  upon  ourselves,  that  our  only 
security  consists  in  moderately  enjoying  the  pleasures 
which  it  enables  us  to  procure,  and  that  it  is  given  us 
to  be  employed  upon  the  improvement  of  the  human  cha- 
racter and  condition,  as  much  as  upon  the  support  of  our- 
selves and  families. 

If  a  fair  proportion  of  the  future  resources  of  this 
country  could  be  turned  into  channels  that  should  render 
it  the  means  of  affording  instruction  to  every  child  on  earth  ; 
of  multiplying  copies  of  the  Bible,  till  they  should  equal  the 
number  of  its  inhabitants, —  that  should  give  missionaries 
to  every  district, — that  should  mitigate  the  rigors  of  pov- 
erty, and  alleviate  the  pains  of  sickness  and  sorrow  :— 
it  would  accomplish  the  double  purpose  of  securing  us 
against  plethoric  abundance,  and  procuring  for  the  world 
an  amount  of  good  beyond  all  parallel.  The  task  of 
giving  it  such  a  direction  may  seem  insurmountable  j 
but  still  it  is  really  not  more  so,  than  to  secure  the  tri'. 
umph  of  any  virtue.  And  Christians  are  taught,  not  to  be 
deterred  from  a  good  undertaking  by  the  obstacles  that 
lie  in  its  way.  Who  had  less  reason  that  commends 
itself  to  human  calculation,  to  expect  the  triumph  of  their 
cause,  than  the  founders  of  our  faith  ?  And  yet,  did  they 
shrink  from  their  work  ?    It  is  not  so  difEcult  as  may 


EFFORT  AT  GUIDING  THEM,  A  DUTY.      355 

seem,  to  imbue  the  mind  of  this  nation  with  correct  sen- 
timents in  regard  to  the  use  of  money.  Let  children  be 
earl)*  inured  to  a  system  of  charity,  and  instructed  in  the 
principles  of  the  duty  ;  let  it  receive  the  attention  it  de- 
serves, in  Sunday  Schools  ;  let  it  be  a  subject  of  calm 
discussion  and  faithful  appeal,  from  the  pulpit ;  let  this  be 
done,  as  disconnected  from  the  direct  purpose  of  obtaining 
contributions;  in  fine,  let  it  be  an  element  of  universal  edu- 
cation, as  much  as  the  science  of  numbers,  or  the  existence 
of  God  ;  and  an  impression  may  in  time  be  produced,  that 
will  affect  all  the  pecuniary  interests  of  this  nation,  and 
roll  back  the  tide  of  desolation,  which  now  threatens  to 
overwhelm  us. 

Indeed,  a  great  point  will  be  secured  towards  the 
achievement  of  this  result,  when  all  the  members  of  the 
church  in  this  land  come  to  act  upon  the  principles  of 
their  religion,  and  the  vows  of  their  consecration  to 
God,  in  the  use  of  their  earthly  treasures.  In  this  way 
religion,  science,  virtue,  civilization,  and  every  influence 
calculated  to  bless  and  beautify  the  soul  and  society  of 
man,  will  go  forth  from  our  land  as  brightness,  and  the 
glory  of  the  Lord  as  a  lamp  that  burneth. 


EXTRACTS    OF    LETTERS 

TO   THE 

PUBLISHERS. 


Uev.  Mr.  Church  has  read  to  me  in  manuscript  a  large 
part  of  his  treatise  on  the  Philosophy  of  Benevolence,  and  I  have 
examined  other  portions  of  the  work,  so  that  I  am,  in  some 
measure,  prepared  to  form  an  opinion  of  its  character. 

Its  object  is  to  determine  the  right  use  of  property,  or  to 
ascertain  and  define  the  fundamental  principles  of  benevolent 
effort — its  plan  is  to  investigate  the  dictates  of  nature  and  the 
teachings  of  revelation  relative  to  the  subject,  in  order  to  thence 
deduce  these  principles — its  leading  maxim  is,  tliat  industry  and 
acquisition  should  be  directed  to  the  development  and  culture  of 
the  intellectual  and  moral  nature  of  man,  at  least,  as  much  as  to 
the  sustentation  and  convenience  t)f  his  animal  nature— and  its 
manner  of  illustration  is,  by  disquisition,  examples  in  real  life, 
and  supposed  cases,  and  in  a  form  novel,  various  and  mteresting, 
so  that  a  theme  naturally  dry  is  rendered  highly  attractive. 

This  objpct  W\\\  commend  itself  to  the  approval  of  all,  who 
are  duly  concerned  for  the  moral  and  intellectual  elevation  of 
their  species.  The  plan  is  truly  philosophical  and  accordant 
with  nature— the  principles  will  be  approved  by  those  whose 
sentiments  agree  with  the  general  harmonies  of  truth — and  the 
illustrations  will  render  its  perusal  pleasant. 

All,  who  have  thought  much  on  the  subject,  have  felt  the 
necessity  of  investigation,  in  order  to  ascertain  and  fix  the  true 
principles  of  benevolent  action.  Here,  then,  is  a  wide  field  for 
research  and  comparison  and  deduction.  And  Mr.  Church  is 
among  the  first  to  attempt  its  culture.  As  he  travels  an  almost 
untrodden  path,  if  he,  occasionally,  should  err  in  a  department 
where  experiment  must  test  the  correctness  of  theory,  still,  the 
attempt  itself  is  praiseworthy,  and  his  eminent  success  in  it  will 
be  alike  honorable  to  himself,  and  beneficial  to  the  community. 

The  Author  has  reviewed  some  departments  of  political 
economy,  and  detected  numerous  defects  in  the  structure  of 
society,  and  in  the  operations  of  governments.  He  has  shown, 
too,  that  there  is  much  deficiency  in  the  Christian  character  of 
the  present  age,  when  compared  with  the  elevated  standard  of 
the  New  Testament.  He  avers  that  the  accumulation  of  wealth 
is  a  pregnant  source  of  danger  to  this  country,  and  that  its 
beneficent   appropriation   to  suitable   objects,  and  on   correct 


Extracts  of  Letters  to  the  Publishers. 


principles,  is  the  only  preventive  of  national   and  individual 

disaster. 

The  work  is  ahly  written  ;  the  writer  is  patient  in  research, 
accurate  and  lucid  in  his  statements,  logical  in  his  reasoning, 
and  happy  in  his  illustration.  The  reader  will  find  several 
beautiful  and  well  sustained  portraitures  of  characters,  with 
some  historical  sketches,  and  a  large  amount  of  pertinent 
remark. 

I  consider  the  work  highly  seasonable  ;  it  is  presented  pre- 
cisely at  the  conjuncture  when  benevolent  feeling  is  exxited,  and 
needs  direction.  Benevolence,  at  present,  seems  to  be  rather  a 
feeling  prompting  to  effort,  than  the  systematic  action  of  prin- 
ciple according  to  specific  rules.  And  this  work  wisl  impart 
necessary  instruction  to  those  who  are  inclined  to  perform  their 
duty  ;  and  it  will  greatly  facilitate  the  labors  of  those  who  are 
engaged  in  the  management  of  our  great  public  charities. 

In  my  opinion,  the  publication  and  extensive  perusal  of  the 
Philosophy  of  Benevolence  would  gri.'atly  promote  the  best  in- 
terest of  the  community;  and  I  hope,  therefore,  that  it  will 
soon  pass  through  the  press  into  the  hands  of  the  reading 
public. 

JONATHAN  GOING. 

The  Subscriber  has  read,  with  much  attention  and  interest, 
the  MS.  of  Mr.  Church's  work,  on  the  principles  which  should 
guide  men  in  the  employment  of  their  property.  The  question 
is  a  practical  one  of  the  highest  importance,  and  yet,  unlike 
most  questions  of  a  practical  kind,  has  been  but  seldom  and 
hastily  treated,  and  is  embarrassed  with  very  considerable  difficul- 
ties. The  sentiment  has  become  a  common  one,  that  the  principled 
of  the  Bible,  as  to  alms-giving,  needed  to  be  spread  before  the 
churches,  and  that  the  feelings  of  the  Christian  public  in  this 
matter  needed  both  excitement  and  guidance.  Mr.  C.  seems  to 
the  subscriber  to  have  expended  upon  the  subject  much  time  and 
much  careful  study.  His  book  bears  throughout  the  traci^s  of 
original  and  vigorous  thinking.  The  style  is  clear  and  simple, 
rismg  in  parts  into  the  truest  eloquence.  Many  of  the  illustra- 
tions are  of  the  most  striking  kind,  and  the  mjnd  of  the  readier  is 
borne  along  without  weariness,  even  wher3  the  discussion  must 
have  cost  the  xA.uthor  the  most  elaborate  thought.  As  an 
attempt  to  bring  the  principles  of  a  favorite  science  of  our  age 
and  nation.  Political  Economy,  into  captivity  and  subjection  to 
the  law  of  Christ — as  an  endeavor  to  stimulate,  into  gr.ater 
liberality.  Christians  not  yet  sensible  of  these  obligations,  and 
to  guide  that  liberality,  where  it  already  exists,  more  wisely 
and  successfully — as  a  work  of  research  and  yet  of  popular 


Extracts  of  Letters  to  the  Publishers,  3 

interest — and  as  a  work  well-timed  to  the  confessed  wants  of 
the  age,  the  Subscriber,  without  adopting  every  position  made 
by  the  Author,  would  most  cheerfully  commend  the  treatise,  as 
one  well  deserving  to  be  studied  by  all  that  would  learn  and  dis- 
charge their  duties  as  the  stewards  of  God,  holding  his  posses- 
sions but  for  the  interests  of  his  cause,  and  the  general  good  of 
their  race. 

WILLIAM  R.  WILLIAMS. 
New-York,  5th  April,  1836. 

In  the  above  recommendation  I  most  cheerfully  concur, 
having  perused  nearly  the  whole  manuscript  with  intense  in- 
terest. It  is  a  work  that  cannot  fail  to  meet  with  the  approba- 
tion of  well-informed  Christians  of  all  denominations,  and  is 
hiffhly  calculated  to  excite  popular  interest  in  the  coinmunity. 

ARCHIBALD  MACLAY. 

I  have  heard  various  parts  of  a  new  work,  entitled  the  Philo- 
sophy of  Benevolence,  written  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Church,  and  so 
far  as  I  have  had  opportunity  to  examine  it,  I  am  highly  pleased 
both  with  the  plan  and  its  execution.  In  an  age  so  interesting 
as  the  present,  when  all  the  resources  of  the  Church  should  be 
brought  into  requisition  for  promoting  the  conversion  of  the 
world,  this  work  may,  in  my  opinion,  be  eminently  useful  for 
impressing  the  consciences  and  the  hearts  of  Christians  with 
their  obligation  to  consecrate  not  merely  their  influence,  but  a 
large  portion  of  their  property^  for  the  execution  of  tho^ie 
schemes  of  benevolence  which  involve  the  honor  of  their  Master, 
and  the  salvation  of  those  hundreds  of  millions  who  are  perish- 
ing without  vision  or  hope,  and  I  therefore  take  great  pleasure 
in  recommending  this  work  to  the  patronage  and  perusal  of  the 
religious  public. 

ALEX.  PROUDFIT. 
Col.  Rooms,  N.  Y.  April  8th,  1836. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Church  has  acquainted  me  with  the  general 
plan  of  his  work  on  the  Philosophy  of  Benevolence,  and  has  read 
to  me  several  chapters  of  it.  The  subject  discussed  is,  obviously, 
one  of  great  importance.  And  I  feel  a  pleasure  in  saying  that 
the  plan  of  the  work  is  well  conceived  ;  the  style  spirited  and 
vigorous  ;  and  the  general  execution  of  it,  in  my  judgment,  such 
as  to  secure  it  an  extensive  patronage  with  the  religious  public. 
It  seems  to  me  that  the  publication  is  well-timed.  I  trust  it  will 
accomplish  much  good. 

A.  CASWELL. 
Prof,  of  Math,  and  Nat.  Philos.,  in  Brown  University. 


4  Extracts  of  Letters  to  the  Publishers. 

I  cheerfully  concur  in  the  sentiments  and  commendatory 
remarks  of  Rev.  Prof.  Caswell. 

GUSTAVUS  F.DAVIS. 
June,  1836. 

Having-  been  favored  wish  the  perusal  of  a  large  portion  oi 
the  manuscript  of  Mr.  Church  on  the  Philosophy  of  Benevolencei 
I  concur,  with  the  Rev.  Dr.  Milnor  and  others,  in  commending 
it  to  the  public.  Its  desig-n  appears  to  me  to  have  been  well 
conceived,  and  its  execution  to  be  highly  creditable  to  the  intel- 
lect and  the  heart  of  its  Author.  Such  a  work,  at  the  present 
time,  will  not  fail  to-  be  appreciated  by  the  friends  of  religion, 
and  of  the  church  of  Christ,  in  its  aspects  towards  the  whole 
world,  while  the  variety  of  its  topics  and  the  vivacity  of  its  dis- 
cussions and  illustrations,  are  well  suited  to  interest  and  instruct 
a  large  class  of  general  readers.  Let  it  be  published,  and  it 
will  soon  no  longer  need  "letters  of  commendation  from  us." 

ABSALOM:  PETERS. 
New-York,  April  9th,  1836. 

I  have  heard  Mr.  Church  rend  the  outline  of  his  manuscript 
work,  entitled  the  Philosophy  of  Benevolence,  and  I  have  had  the 
opportunity  of  examining  it  more  fully,  during  the  time  it  was 
left  with  me. 

The  Philosophy  of  Benevolence  is  a  subject  of  high  impor- 
tance, and  is  calculated,  in  this  age  of  unusual  moral  enterprise, 
to  excite  the  intense  interest  of  every  man  who  loves  his  country, 
and  the  cause  of  our  blessed  Redeemer. 

No  author,  of  course,  asks  any  one  to  endorse  every  parti- 
cular opinion  and  sentiment  which  he  advances.  It  is  with  the 
soundness  of  his  theory,  and  the  execution  of  his  book,  that  we 
have  mainly  to  do,  in  recommending  it  to  the  favorable  attention 
of  the  public.  Mr.  Church  has,  I  conceive,  done  great  justice 
to  his  subject.  In  advocating  the  best  of  causes,  he  appears 
before  us,  uniformly,  as  a  bold,  uncompromising,  sound,  and 
warm-hearted  Christian  ;  and  he  reasons  with  the  ease  and  the 
tact  Qf  a  well-disciplined  philosopher.  His  way  of  treating  his 
subject  is  novel  and  interesting  ;  his  manner  is  clear  and  sys- 
tematic ;  and  he  seldom  fails  to  delight,,  and  even  to  captivate, 
while  he  is  intent  on  instruction.  The  whole  book  is  a  good 
specimen  of  fine  writing  ;  the  style  is  uniformly  simple  and 
polished,  and  often  exhibits  uncommon  vigor  and  eloquence. 

I  know  of  no  book  on  this  subject  at  all  to  be  compared  with 
this  work  of  Mr.  Church ;  and  having  risen  from  the  perusal 
of  it,  delighted  and  instructed,  I  deem  it  merely  an  act  of  justice 
to  the  Author,  to  express  my  persuasion  that  this  book,  from  the 
nature  of  the  subject,  from  the  attractive  mode  of  the  discussioQ 


Extracts  of  Letters  to  the  Publishers.  5 

sustained  throughout,  and  from  the  masterly  style  of  the  whole 
execution  thereof,  needs  only  to  be  known,  in  order  to  its  be- 
coming a  very  popular  American  work. 

W.  C.  BROWNLEE. 
New-York,  April  6th,  1836. 
With  the  same  means  of  judging  as  those  of  Dr.  Brownlee, 
I  am  happy  to  express  my  entire  concurrence  in  the  sentiments 
expressed  above,  in  relation  to  the  work  in  question. 
^  GEO.  BUSH. 

Having  had  the  pleasure  of  hearing  a  considerable  portion  of 
the  above  mentioned  work  read  by  its  Author,  I  am  free  to  de- 
clare my  opinion,  that  the  commendations  bestowed  by  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Brownlee,  in  his  recommendatory  ^certificate,  are  by  no 
means  exaggerated.  There  may  be  remarks  to  which  full  assent 
cannot  be  given,  bnt  the  general  scope  and  tendency  of  its 
design  is  excellent,  and  while  the  whole  subject  is  admirably  sus- 
tained by  argument  and  illustration,  and  the  style  in  which  it  is 
written  above  the  common  order  of  composition,  its  peculiar 
adaptation  to  the  circumstances  of  the  present  times,  invests  it 
with  a  practical  interest,  that  cannot  but  secure  for  the  work  a 
very  general  perusal  by  all  the  friends  of  systematic  Christiaa 
beneficence  of  every  name. 

JAMES  MILNOR. 
New- York,  8th  April,  1836.  ' 

I  take  great  pleasure  in  saying,  that  after  having  heard  con- 
siderable  portions  of  a  work,  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Church,  called  the 
Philosophy  of  Benevolence,  I  have  formed  a  very  favorable  opinion 
of  the  design  of  the  Author  and  of  the  manner  of  executing  it. 
The  reader,  if  I  mistake  not,  in  the  progress  of  this  volume, 
will  find  himself  instructed  on  a  subject  which  has  been  greatly 
overlooked,  and  greatly  depreciated. 

GARDINER  SPRING. 
New- York,  April,  1836, 


XEAVZTT,  XORD  &  CO., 

PUBLISHERS  AND  BOOKSELLERS 

Have  in  Press,  and  will  immediately  publish, 

THE  BAPTISTS  IN  AMERICA-being  the  Journal  of  the  Dele- 
gation from  the  Baptist  Union  in  England  to  their  sister  Churches  in- 
America— by  Drs.  Cox  and  Hoey. 

The  ELEMENTS  OF  POLITICAL  ECONOMY,  by  Rev.  Fban- 
cisWayland,  D.  D. 

SACRED  LYRICS,  or  DEVOTIONAL  POETRY,-24mo.  froia 
the  13th  London  Edition. 

A  New  Edition  of  BARNES'  NOTES  ON  THE  GOSPELS,  re- 
vised in  accordance  with?  the  views  of  the  denomination  of  Baptist 
Christians.  The  following  is  the  preface  of  the  Publishers  to  the  Notes 
on  the  Gospels. — 

The  Noles  on  ihe  Gospels,  prepared  by  Mr.  Barnes,  have  been  published  (hree  years,  a*id  have 
obtained  llie  favor  of  the  Chrisilaii  pubhc  sc  far  as  lo  men  wiih  a  Tery  extensive  oircufation.  The 
fact  thai  iliey  are  adapted  lo  Sahbalh  Scliools,  has  been  the  occaiion  of  their  having  been  inlro- 
daced  nc  only  into  schools  connected  with  the  religious  denomination  to  which  ^  r.  Barnes 
belongs,  bill  also  extens  vely  into  tho-^e  connecU'd  witli  otherdenominaiions.  Many  of  the  teachers 
of  schools  under  the  care  of  Baptist  churclies,  bad  also  introduced  ihem,  and  were  satisfied  with 
the  general  plan  and  execution  of  the  "  Notes  "  But  it  is  weil  known,  that  while  between  the 
Baptist  and  other  chnicbes  there  is  no  material  difference  of  doctrine,  yet  they  have  differed  in 
their  expositions  of  the  texts  in  the  New  'restameni,  which  relate  to  the  subject  ■  f  (  hristian  bap- 
tism, and  lIuHlhis  difference  is,  in  their  view,  of  so  much  importance,  as  great]/  to  obstruct  the 
onrrency  of  books  in  their  denomination,  wlijcb  present  an  exptiaiiion  different  from  theirs.  It 
■was  mggesled,  iherefnre,  lo  the  I'ublish  rs,  by  much  retpecled  g.  ntlenien  connected  with  that 
denominat  on,  that  perhaps,  while  the  main  stmcture  and  form  of  the  '•  Notes"  should  be 
retained,  yet  that  a  few  changes  inight  be  made  that  would  remove  this  obstacle  lo  a  free  (tircula- 
tion  among  them,  and  permit  them  to  recommenti  and  use  the  work  without  this  restriction.  At 
this  stiKgestion,  and  with  the  con&eni  of  Mr.  Barnes,  ilie  Hublishers  have  cuinmitted  the  work  to 
the  Rev.  Stow,  who  has  careftdly  revised  it,  and  changed  such  expressions  as  would  bring  it  into 
accord<ince  wiih  the  views  of  the  Baptist  denomination. 

Of  course  Mr  Barnes  is  not  to  be  regarded  as  rc-spunsiblc  f i  r  these  changes,  nor  are  they  to  be 
understood  as  expressing  liis  views,  or  as  implyii.g  that  his  views  have  undergone  any  change  on. 
the  proper  interpieta'iun  of  these  passages.  He  is  responsible  only  tor  giving  permission,  in  a  work 
which  is  still  essentially  and  almost  entirely'his,  for  Chriaiian  liberty,  to  bretiiren  of  another  deno- 
mination, to  express  their  views  in  a  work  of  his,  on  a  matter  that  he  does  liot  dcim  vital  in  regard 
to  Chtislian  doctrine.  His  views  are  expressed  in  the  original  edition  ;  Ihe  views  expressed  in  thin, 
on  these  points,  are  to  be  regarded  as  those  of  Mr.  Stow,  nnd  of  tlie  Baptist  denominHtii!n. 

In  this  edition,  the  changes  wnich  have  been  made  by  Mr  Stow  are  ind  cated  at  ilie  commence- 
ment and  the  close  by  brackets,  |  ].  'I  he  chanties  refer  simply  and  solely  lo  tlie  places 
which  speak  of  b  up  t  i  s  in.  The  other  parts  of  the  work  are  struck  Irom  the  Stereotype  plates 
which  have  been  used  n  the  former  editions  The  changes  which  have  been  made  bv  .vir.  Stow 
occur  in  the  f'  llowing  pages,  viz  vol  i.  pp.  31  33,  34,  37,  39.  189,  310,  341,  342,  37.5,  37£,  and  vol. 
ii.  pp.  166,  190,  197,  198.  Thr.neh  the  number  of  pages  that  have  been  nwjtJified  may  appear  lo 
be  considerable,  yet  both  the  Reviser  ai.d  tlie  l-'ublishers  have  been  surprised  that  it  was  needful  lo 
change  so  small  an  amotinl  of  mailer  In  the  first  vohime  the  aggregate  of  liie  chai.ges  made  by 
Mr.  Stow  does  not  exceed  one  page  and  a  half,  and  in  volume  second  amounts  lo  less 
tbnn    one    page. 

To  prevent  the  pos-ibility  of  error  in  purchasing  the  volumes,  the  Publishers  have  changed  the 
title  page  so  as  to  indicate  prominently  the  edition,  and  have  also  indicated  il  on  the  back  of  the 
Tolume. 

The  Publishers  are  gratified  for  Ihe  favor  with  which  the  work  has  been  received  by   he  Chris- 
tian public.     They  have  only  to  ejtpress  the  wish,  that,  under  the  Divine  blessing,  il  may  be  still 
made  extensively  the  means  of  enlightening  the  rising  general. on  in  tlie  knowledge  if  divine  uu;h, 
and  guiding  them  in  the  way  of  holini  ss  and  life< 
NEW-yURK,  ISO  Broadway,  June,  1836.  LEAVITT,  LORD  &  CO. 

Mr.  Baenes  has  also  prepared  a  volume  on  the  ACTS  OF  APOS- 
TLES and  one  on  ROMANS,  with  Question  Books  for  the  use  of  Bible 
Classes  and  Sabbath  Schools.  Nearly  50,000  vols,  of  these  remarkably 
popular  commentaries  have  been  sold  within  a  short  time  of  their  pub 
lication. 


Works  Published  by  Leavitt,  Lord  <^  Co.        7 

RECOMMSNDATIONS    OF    BARNES'    NOTES. 

From  Abbot's  Religious  Magazine. 

We  have  previously,  in  a  brief  notice,  recommended  to  our  readers 
Barnes'  Notes  on  the  Gospels.  But  a  more  extended  acquaintance 
with  that  work  has  very  much  increased  our  sense  of  its  value.  We 
never  have  opened  any  commentary  on  the  Gospels,  which  has  afforded 
us  so  much  satisfaction.  Without  intending  in  the  least  degree,  to  dis- 
parage the  many  valuable  commentaries  which  now  aid  the  Christian 
in  the  study  of  the  Bible,  we  cannot  refrain  from  expressing  our  grati- 
tude to  the  Author,  for  the  interesting  and  profitable  instructions  he  has 
given  us.— The  volumes  are  characterized  by  the  following  merits. 

1.  The  spirit  which  imbues  them  is  highly  devotional.  ]t  is  a  de- 
TOtion  founded  on  knowledge.     It  is  a  zeal  guided  by  discretion. 

2.  The  notes  are  eminently  intellectual.  Apparent  difficulties  are 
fairly  met.  They  are  either  explained,  or  the  want  of  a  fully  satisfac- 
tory explanation  admitted.  There  is  none  of  that  slipping  by  a  knot 
which  is  too  common  in  many  commentaries. 

3.  The  notes  are  written  in  language  definite,  pointed  and  forcible. 
There  is  no  interminable  flow  of  lazy  words.  Every  word  is  active 
and  does  its  work  well.  There  are  no  fanciful  expositions.  There  ie 
no  tedious  display  of  learning. 

There  may  be  passages  in  which  we  should  differ  from  the  writer 
in  some  of  the  minor  shades  of  meaning.  There  may  be  sometimes 
an  unguarded  expression  which  has  escaped  our  notice.  We  have  not 
scrutinized  the  volumes  uith  the  eye  of  a  critic.  But  we  have  used 
them  in  our  private  reading.  We  have  used  them  in  our  family.  And 
we  have  invariably  read  them  with  profit  and  delight. 

We  have  just  opened  the  book  to  select  some  passage  as  an  illustra- 
tion of  the  spirit  of  the  work.  The  Parable  of  the  rich  man  and  Laza- 
rus now  lies  before  us.  The  notes  explanatory  of  the  meaning  of  the 
parables,  are  full  and  to  the  point.  The  following  are  the  inferences, 
which  Mr.  Barnes  deduces. 

"  From  this  impressive  and  instructive  parable  we  may  learn, 

"  1.  That  the  souls  of  men  do  not  die  with  their  bodies. 

"  2.  That  the  souls  of  men  are  conscious  after  death  ;  that  they  do 
not  sleep,  as  some  have  supposed,  till  the  morning  of  the  resurrection. 

"  3.  That  the  righteous  are  taken  to  a  place  of  happintss  immedi- 
ately at  death,  and  the  wicked  consigned  to  misery. 

"  4.  That  wealth  does  not  secure  us  Irom  death. 

"  How  vain  are  riches  to  secure 
Their  hau^-hty  owners  fioni  the  grave. 

'  "  The  rich,  the  beautiful,  the  gay,  as  well  as  the  poor,  go  down 
to  the  grave.  All  their  pomp  and  apparel ;  all  their  honors,  their 
palaces  and  their  gold  cannot  save  them.  Death  can  as  easily  find  his 
way  into  the  mansions  of  the  rich  as  into  the  cottages  of  the  poor,  and 
the  rich  shall  turn  to  the  same  corruption,  and  soon,  like  the  poor,  be 
undistinguished  from  common  dust,  and  be  unknown. 
"5.  We  should  not  envy  the  condition  of  the  rich. 

"  On  slippery  rocks  I  see  them  stand, 
And  fiery  billows  roll  below. 

"  6.  We  should  strive  for  a  better  inheritance,  than  can  be  possessed 
in  this  life, 

«'  '  Now  I  esteem  their  mirth  and  wine, 
Too  dear  to  purchase  with  my  blood, 
Lord  'lis  enough  that  thou  art  mine, 
My  life,  my  portion,  and  ray  God.' 


8         Works  Published  by  Leavitt,  Lord  <^  Co, 

RECOMMENDATIONS    OP    BARNES'     NOTES. 

"  7.  The  sufferings  of  the  wicked  in  hell  will  be  indiscribably  great. 
Think  what  is  represented  by  torment,  by  burning  flame,  by  insuppor- 
table thirsl,  by  that  state  when  a  single  drop  of  water  would  afford 
relief.  Remember  that  all  this  is  but  a  representation  of  the  pains  of 
the  damned,  and  that  this  will  have  no  relief,  day  nor  night,  but  will 
continue  from  year  to  year,  and  age  to  age,  and  without  any  end,  and 
you  nave  a  faint  view  of  the  sufferings  of  those  who  are  in  hell. 

'•  8.  There  is  a  place  of  suffering  beyond  the  grave,  a  hell  If  there 
is  not,  then  this  parable  has  no  meaning.  It  is  impossible  to  make  any 
thing  of  it  unless  it  is  designed  to  teach  that. 

"9.  There  will  never  he  any  escape  from  those  gloomy  regions. 
There  is  agulf  fixed— ^.reri,  not  moveable.  Nor  can  any  of  the  damned 
beat  a  pathway  across  this  gulf,  to  the  world  of  holiness. 

"  10.  We  see  the  amazing  folly  of  those,  who  suppose  there  mpy  be 
an  end  10  the  sufferings  of  the  wicked,  and  who  on  that  supposition 
seem  willing  to  go  down  to  hell  to  suffer  a  long  time,  rather  than  go 
at  once  to  heaven.  If  a  man  were  to  suffer  but  a  thousand  years,  or 
even  one  year,  why  should  he  be  so  foolish  as  to  choose  that  suffering, 
rather  than  go  at  once  to  heaven,  and  be  happy  at  once  when  he  dies  7 

"  11.  God  gives  us  warning  sufficient  to  prepare  for  death.  He  has 
sent  his  word,  his  servants,  his  Son  ;  he  warns  us  by  his  Spirit  and 
his  providence,  by  the  entreaties  of  our  friends,  and  by  che  death  of 
sinners.  He  offers  us  heaven,  and  he  threatens  hell.  If  all  this  will 
not  move  sinners,  what  would  do  it?    There  is  nothing  that  would. 

"  12.  God  will  give  us  nothing  farther  to  warn  us.  No  dead  man 
will  come  to  life,  to  tell  us  what  he  has  seen.  Jf  he  did,  we  would  not 
believe  him.  Religion  appeals  to  man,  not  by  ghosts  and  frightful  appa- 
ritions. It  appeals  to  their  reason,  their  conscience,  their  hopes,  and 
their  fears.  It  sets  life  and  death  soberly  before  men,  and  if  they  will 
not  choose  the  former  they  must  die.  If  you  will  not  hear  the  Son  of 
God,  and  the  truth  of  the  Scriptures,  there  is  nothing  which  you  will 
or  can  hear;  you  will  never  be  persuaded,  and  never  will  escape  the 
place  of  torment." 

If  we  have  any  influence  with  our  readers,  we  would  recommend 
them  to  buy  these  volumes.  There  is  hardly  any  Christian  in  the  land, 
who  will  not  find  them  an  invaluable  treasure. 

Extract  of  a  Letter  from,  a  distinguished  Divine  of  New  England^ 

It  (Barnes'  Notes)  supplies  an  important  and  much  needed  deside- 
ratum in  the  means  of  Sabbath  School  and  Bible  Class  instruction. 

Without  descending  to  minute  criticism,  or  attempting  a  display  of 
learning,  it  embraces  a  wide  range  of  general  reading,  and  brings  out 
the  results  of  an  extended  and  careful  investigation  of  the  most  impor- 
tant sources  of  Biblical  knowledge. 

The  style  of  the  work  is,  as  it  should  be,  plain,  simple,  direct ;  often 
vigorous  and  striking;  always  serious  and  earnest. 

It  abounds  in  fine  analyses  of  thought  and  trains  of  argument,  ad- 
mirably adapted  to  aid  Sabbath  School  Teachers  in  their  responsible 
duties;  often  too,  verv  useful  to  Ministers  when  called  suddenly  to 
prepare  for  religions  meetings,  and  always  helpful  in  conducting  the 
excercises  of  a  Bible  Class. 

Without  vouching  for  the  correctness  of  every  explanation  and  senti- 
ment contained  in  the  Notes,  its  author  appears  to  have  succeeded  very 
happily  in  expressing  the  mind  of  the  Holy  Spirit  as  revealed  in  those 
parts  of  the  New  Testament  which  he  has  undertaken  to  explain. 


Works  Published  by  Leavitt,  Lord  ^  Co.         9 

RECOMMENDATIONS    OF    BARNES'    NOTKS. 

The  theology  taught  in  these  volumes,  arawn  as  it  is  from  the  pure 
fountain  of  truth,  is  eminently  common  sense  and  practical. 

It  has  little  to  do  with  theory  or  speculation. 

Th^  author  appears  not  to  be  unduly  wedded  to  any  particular  school 
or  system  of  theology,  but  to  have  a  mind  trained  to  habits  of  indepen- 
dent thinking,  readily  submissive  to  the  teachings  of  inspiration,  but 
indisposed  to  call  any  man  master,  or  to  set  up  any  thing  in  opposition 
to  the  plain  testimony  of  the  Bible. 

We  would  here  say,  once  for  all,  we  consider  Barries'  Notes  the 
best  commentary  for  families  we  have  seen.— A^.  E-  Spectator. 

If  the  degree  of  popular  favor  with  which  a  work  of  Biblical  instruc- 
tion is  received  by  an  intelligent  Christian  community  be  a  just  crite- 
rion of  its  value,  the  volumes  which  the  Rev.  Mr.  Barnes  is  giving  the 
Church  are  entitled  to  a  high  place  in  the  scale  of  merit.— N.  Y.  Evang^ 

From  Review  of  the  Gospels  in  Biblical  Repertory. 

We  have  only  to  say  further,  by  way  of  introduction,  that  we  ad- 
mire the  practical  wisdom  evinced  by  Mr.  Barnes  in  selecting  means 
by  which  to  act  upon  the  public  mind,  as  well  as  his  self-denying  dili- 
gence in  laboring  to  supply  the  grand  defect  of  our  religious  education* 
Masterly  exposition,  in  a  popular  fora.,  is  the  great  disideratum  of  the 
Christian  public. 

The  Notes  are  always  readable,  and  almost  always  to  the  point. 
Nothing  appears  to  have  been  said  for  the  sake  of  saying  something. 
This  is  right.  It  is  the  only  principle  on  which  our  books  of  popular 
instruction  can  be  written  with  success.  Its  practical  value  is  evinced 
by  ttie  extensive  circulation  of  the  work  before  us,  as  well  as  by  the 
absence  of  that  heaviness  and  langor,  which  inevitably  follow  from  a 
verbose  style,  or  the  want  of  a  definite  object. 

Mr.  Barnes'  explanations  are  in  general  brief  and  clear,  comprising 
the  fruit  of  very  diligent  research. 

We  have  been  much  pleased  with  his  condensed  synopsis  of  the 
usual  arguments  on  some  disputed  points,  as  well  as  with  his  satisfaC" 
lory  solution  of  objections. 

But  Mr.  Barnes  has  not  been  satisfied  with  merely  explaining  the 
language  of  the  text.  He  has  taken  pains  to  add  those  illustrations 
which  verbal  exposition,  in  the  strict  sense  cannot  furnish.  The  book 
is  rich  in  archaeological  information.  All  that  could  well  be  fathered 
from  the  common  works  on  biblical  antiquities,  is  wrought  into  the 
Notes  upon  those  passages  which  need  such  elucidation. 

In  general  we  admire  the  skill  witli  which  he  sheds  the  light  of 
archaeology  and  history  upon  the  text  of  scripture,  and  especially  the 
power  of  compression  which  enables  him  to  crowd  a  mass  of  know- 
ledge into  a  narrow  space  without  obscurity. 

While  the  explanation  of  the  text  is  the  primary  object  kept  in  view 
throughout  these  notes,  religious  edification  is  by  no  means  slighted. 
Mr.  Barnes'  devotional  and  practical  remarks  bear  a  due  proportion  to 
the  whole. 

From  what  we  have  said  it  follows  of  course,  that  the  work  before 
us  has  uncommon  merit.  Correct  explanation,  felicitous  illustration, 
and  impressive  application,  are  the  characteristic  attributes  of  a  suc^ 
cessful  commentary.  Though  nothing  can  be  added  in  the  way  of  com- 
mendation which  is  not  envolved  in  something  said  already,  there  are 
two  detached  points  which  deserve  perhaps  to  be  distinctly  stated-  W© 


10      Woi^ks  Published  by  Leavitt,  Lord  4*  Co. 

are  glad  lo  see  that  Mr.  Barnes  not  only  shuns  the  controversial  mode 
of  exposition,  but  often  uses  expressions  on  certain  disputed  subjects, 
which,  in  their  obvious  sense,  convey  sound  doctrine  in  its  strictest  form. 
What  vanity  of  meanmg  these  expressions  may  admit  of  or  are  likely 
to  convey,  we  d  >  not  know  ;  but  we  are  sure  that  in  their  simple,  ob- 
vious meaning  they  are  strongly  Calvinistic  in  the  good  old  sense. 

The  other  point  to  which  we  have  alluded  is  Mr.  Barnes'  frankness 
and  decision  in  condemning  fanatical  extravagance  and  inculcating 
Christian  prudence. 

With  rpspect  to  Mr.  Barnes'  style  we  have  little  to  say  beyond  a 
general  commendation.  The  pains  which  he  has  wisely  taken  to  be 
brief,  have  compelled  him  to  write  well. 

PRIVATE  LIFR  OF  GEN.  LAFAYETTE,  by  (his  intimate 
friend  and  surgeon)  Mr.  Jules  Cloquet,  2  vols  12mo  This  very  inte- 
resting work  IS  composed  of  materials  left  the  distinguished  wriier  by 
the  general  himself.  It  abounds  with  characteristic  anecdotes,  original 
letters,  and  other  documents,  which  cast  a  new  and  pleasing  light  on 
the  character  of  one  of  the  greatest  and  best  benefactors  of  the  human 
race.  The  volumes  are  embellished  with  numerous  engravings  (45) 
executed  m  Paris,  where  the  translation  of  the  original  work  was  made 
under  the  eye  of  the  author.  It  is  published  simultaneously  in  Paris, 
London,  and  New- York. 

CHEEVER'S  DEFENCE,  a  defence  in  abatement  of  judgment 
for  an  alleged  libel,  in  the  story  entitled,  "  Inquire  at  Amos  Giles' 
Distillery."     18mo.    112  pp. 

THE  FLOWER  GARDEN— a  new  botanical  work.  1  vol.  12mo. 
4  colored  plates,  180  pp.  This  is  a  monthly  Calendar  of  practical  direc- 
tions for  the  culture  of  flowers,  adapted  to  the  climate  of  the  U.  S. 
with  notes  and  observations  by  L.  D.  Gale,  M.  D.,  Professor  of  N.  Y. 
College  of  Pharmacy  ai  d  University  of  the  City  of  New-York. 

PASTOR'S  DAUGHTER,  or  the  Way  of  Salvation  explained  ta 
a  young  Inquirer,  from  reminiscences  of  the  conversations  of  the  late 
Dr.  Payson  and  his  daughter.  This  work  is  ably  written,  and  con- 
tains illustrations  of  truth,  and  narratives  of  incident,  which  cannot 
fail  to  awaken  a  lively  interest  and  impart  valuable  instruction. 

FEMALE  STUDENT,  (12mo.  400  pages)  or  LEC'lURES  to 
YOUNG  LADIES,  comprising  Outlines  and  Applications  on  the  difie- 
rent  branches  of  Female  Education.  For  thf^  use  of  F.male  Schools 
and  private  Libraries  ;  delivered  to  the  Pupils  of  the  Troy  Female 
Seminary.  By  Mrs.  Almlra  H.  Lincoln  Phelps,  late  Vice-Principal 
of  that  Institution  :  Author  of  Familiar  Lectures  on  Botany.  &c. 

ZINZRNDORFF,  (a  new  original  poem,)  with  other  poems ;  beau- 
tifully printed.     By  Mrs.  L.  H.  Sigourm  y.     1  vol.  12mo. 

ZinzendorfT  was  the  founder  of  a  sect  of  Christians,  who  in  their 
labors  of  self-denying  benevolence,  and  their  avoidance  of  the  slight, 
yet  bitter  cause  of  controversy,  have  well  preserved  that  sacred  test  of 
discipleship,  "  to  love  one  another." 

SHIP  AND  SH(^RE,  or  Leaves  from  the  Journal  of  a  Cruise  to 
the  Levant— by  Rev.  Waller  Coltou,  U.  S.  Navy. 

Another  contribution  from  a  source  to  which  nobody  would  have 
thought  of  turning,  but  a  few  years  ago;  but  which  is  now  beginning 
to  yield  fruit  abundantly  and  of  excellent  flavor,  sound,  wholesome 
and  trustworthy  ;  not  those  warm-cheeked  and  golden  pippins  of  the 
Red  Sea,  which  turn  to  ashes  on  the  lips,  but  something  you  may  bite 


Works  Published  hy  Leavitt,  Lord  <^  Co.       11 

with  all  your  strength,  of  a  grapy,  and  sometimes  of  a  peachy  flavon 
The  preface  itself  is  a  gem.— New  England  Galaxy. 

Tiie  more  we  see  of  the  author,  the  better  we  like  him.  The  Ship 
and  Shore  ought  to  be  generally  read  ;  if  not,  alas  for  the  public.~/6. 

This  book  is  written  with  sprightliness  and  ease,  and  may  justly 
claim  to  he  considert-d  an  agreeable  as  well  as  an  instructive  compa- 
nion. It  is  inscribed,  in  a  brief  but  modest  dedication,  to  Mrs.  E.  D. 
Reed,  a  lady  of  uncommon  refinement  of  manners  and  intellectual  ac- 
complishments. The  descriptions  of  Maderia  ana  Lisbon  are  the  best 
we  have  read.  The  pages  are  uniformly  enriched  with  sentiment,  or 
enlivened  by  incident.— The  author,  whoever  he  is,  is  a  man  of  senli- 
ment,  taste  and  feeling.— -^os/on  Courier^ 

MEMOIRS  OF  MRS.  WIN  SLOW,  late  Missionary  to  India,  by 
her  husband,  llev.  Miron  Winslow— in  a  neat  r2mo.  with  a  Portrait. 

MEMOIR  OF  HARLAN  PAGE,  18mo.  wuh  a  likeness. 

We  consider  it  very  important  that  every  indlvidval  in  our  land, 
who  has  consecrated  himself  to  the  Lord,  should  nad  it  and  keep  it  as 
a  manual,  that  he  mav  know  how  to  labor  for  the  salvation  of  the  souls 
of  men. — Christian  Intelligencer. 

CHILD'S  BOOK  OxN  THE  SABBATH.     18mo. 

Christian  part-nts  will  find  it  an  excellent  volume  to  place  in  the 
hands  of  iheir  children,  to  assist  in  forming  just  views  of  the  nature 
and  value  of  the  Sabbtth  :  and  it  ought  to  have  a  place  in  every  family 
and  Sabbath  School  library. — Connecticut  Courant. 

THE  SOCIAL  FIRE-SIDE  LIBRARY. 

FIRE-SIDE  SERIES.-  A  seri'-s  of  ISmo  volum  s,  (of  a  popular  and 
practical  character,)  of  original  and  select  works  prepared  expr-  ssly 
for  it,  illustrating  the  religious  and  moral  duties  of  life,  family  duties 
and  responsibilities,   especially  those  of  parents  to  children,   and 
children  to  parents,  &lc.    These  volumes  consist  of  250  pages,  retail 
at  50  cents,  and  are  sold  singly  or  in  selSj  as  preferred. 
Vol.       I.— Fire  Side  Piety. 
Vol.     II.—  7  he  Mother's  Friend. 
Vol.   111. — China  and  the  English. 

Vol.    IV. — Real  Dialogiw.f  on  the  Evidences  of  Christianity, 
Vol.      V. — Pastor's  Daughter. 
A  GUIDE  TO  YOUNG  DISCIPLES,  by  J.  G.  Pike.    18mo.,  and 
RELIGION  AND  ETERNAL  LIFE,  or  Irreligion  and  Perpetual 
Ruin,  by  J.  G.  Pike.  18mo.     Very  valuable  books  by  a  popular  writer. 
PRACTICAL   VIEW  OF   CHRISTIANITY,    by  the  late  Wm. 
Wilberforce,  Esq ,  M.  P.  I8mo.,  stereotyped  ed.,  with  a  portrait  and 
introductory  essay  by  Wilson. 

THE  ANALOGY  OF  RELIGION,  Natural  and  Revealed,  by 
Joseph  Butler,  D.  D  ,  stereotype  ed.,  with  an  introductory  essay  by 
Rev.  Albert  Barnes*  12mo. 

The  two  latter  works  are,  perhaps,  the  ablest  and  most  celebrated 
of  the  kind  in  anv  language.  I'ens  of  thousands  of  each  kind  have 
been  circulated  in"  this  country,  as  well  as  in  Great  Britain. 

ELEMENTS  OF  MENTAL  AND  MORAL  SCIENCE,  designed 
to  exhibit  the  original  susceptibilities  of  the  Mind,  and  the  Rules  by 


12      Works  Published  by  Leavitt,  Lord  <^  Co. 

which  any  of  its  slates  or  feelings  should  be  judged ;  by  Geo.  Payne, 
D.  D.,  2  ed.  1  vol.  12(no. 

RHETORICAL  HEADER,  consisting  of  instructions  for  regulat- 
ing the  voice,  with  a  rhetorical  notation,  illustrating  inflection,  enipha-* 
sis  and  modulation ;  with  a  course  of  Rhetorical  Exercises,  designed 
for  Academies  and  High  Schools  j  by  Ebenezer  Porter,  D.  D.,  itth  ed. 
1  voK   12nio.^ 

A  PHILOSOPHICAL  TREATISE  ON  THE  WILL,  by  Thomas 
C.  Upham,  400  pp.  Bvo. 

ELEMENTS  OF  MENTAL  PHILOSOPHY— by  T.  C.  Upham, 
Bowdoin  College. 

This  work  is  printed  in  two  forms ;  the  larger  in  two  volumes, 
designed  for  colleges  ;  the  smaller,  in  one  volume  of  600  pages,  de- 
signed for  academies  and  high  schools.  The  work  is  too  well  known 
to  require  remarks.  4000  copies  have  been  published,  and  the  editions 
are  nearly  exhausted. 

Without  affrming  that  we  agree  with  Professor  Upham,  in  every 
minute  point  of  speculation,  we  have  no  hesitation  in  saying,  that  his 
work  is  one  of  great  value  to  the  literary  and  religious  community. 
It  indicates  throughout  not  only  deep  and  varied  research,  but  p^-o- 
found  and  laborious  thought,  and  is  a  full,  luciu  and  able  discussion 
of  an  involved  and  embarassing  subject.  The  ttyle,  though  generally 
diffuse,  IS  always  perspicuous,  and  often  elegant— and  the  wcrk,  as  a 
whole,  will  add  much  to  the  reputation  of  the  author,  and  entitle  him 
to  rank  among  the  ablest  metaphysicians  of  our  country. — Lit.  and 
Theolog.  Rev. 

RATiO  DlSCIPLINiE,  by  T.  C.  Upham,  I2mo.— This  work  gives 
a  more  full  view  than  any  other  of  the  doctrines,  principles  of  govern- 
ment, and  usages  of  the  congregationr'l  churfhos.  It  has  always  been 
regarded,  so  far  as  we  have  be.  n  able  to  learn,  as  a  valuable  authority 
by  the  ministers  and  councils  oi  that  uenomiiiation.  Nearly  out  of 
print. 

A  GRAMMAR  OF  THE  HEBREW  LANGUAGE,  with  a  brief 
Chrestomaihy  lor  the  use  of  beginners,  by  George  Bush,  Prof.  Heb. 
and  Orient.  Lit.  in  the  N.  Y.  City  Univ.  isiiy. 

We  hail  sincerely  this  finely  exocuted  volume,  with  its  tasteful  dis- 
play o(  the  University  front  labelled  in  gilt  on  the  back,  i'ut  the  out- 
ward dress  is  a  matter  of  minor  moment.  It  is  the  marrow  oi  the 
book  which  gives  us  pleasure.  That  it  is  calculated  to  be  an  important 
accession  to  the  eLjinentary  works  on  Hebrew,  no  one  acquainted  with 
the  ripe  scholarsliip  of  Prof.  B.,  cm  doubt,  much  less  any  one  who 
has  examined  the  t^ook.  The  main  objtc:  of  the  author  in  preparing 
it,  as  we  learn  from  his  well  written  preface,  was  to  faciiitase  the  acqui- 
sition of  the  holy  tongue  by  the  oimplijicalion  of  its  elements.  With 
this  book  as  a  guide,  the  studen'  will  find  the  enir  nee  ipun  the  lan- 
guage, instead  of  difficult  and  repulsive,  easy  afd  inviiinr.  Taken 
altogeihi^r,  we  regard  the  grammar  of  Prof.  B.  as  eminenuy  adapied 
to  tne  use  of  students  in  our  Theological  Seminaries  ;  an  I  we  see  not 
why  it  should  not  successfully  compute  with  the  ablest  of  its  predeces- 
sors. In  addition  to  its  intrinsic  merits,  it  has  moreover  the  iccommen- 
dation  of  being  sold  at  the  low  price  of  $1  25.— iV.  Y.  Evangelist. 


Princeton  Theological  Seminary  Libraries 


1    1012  01234  4786 


